"1999", the first year
38 images Created 11 Dec 2012
“1999” Pakistan, the first year.
In July 1999, at the impressionable age of 25, my girlfriend and I left New York with a one-way ticket to Pakistan. We headed for the mountains. They were gigantic and treacherous; the people living amongst them were warm and touching. Soon we were addicted. We opened up new passes, learned the language, went into the wild. Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Pamir, year after year, we must have trekked over 3000 Kilometers.
I was near K2 on 9/11. Soon I was asked to go and photograph demonstrations in the streets of Islamabad. I tried, but it didn’t feel right – this was not the Pakistan I wanted to portray. In October 2001 we had to leave, obeying our embassy’s advice: the airport might get bombed. We flew to Bangkok, leaving most of our stuff, our friends, our life behind.
I didn’t take many pictures during that first year in Pakistan – film was expensive and a round trip to the nearest photo store was a 35 hours bus journey through the Karakoram. I had a Nikon F100 and a Horizon, a cheap Russian panoramic camera. I was walking the hills, experimenting, learning.
In July 1999, at the impressionable age of 25, my girlfriend and I left New York with a one-way ticket to Pakistan. We headed for the mountains. They were gigantic and treacherous; the people living amongst them were warm and touching. Soon we were addicted. We opened up new passes, learned the language, went into the wild. Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Pamir, year after year, we must have trekked over 3000 Kilometers.
I was near K2 on 9/11. Soon I was asked to go and photograph demonstrations in the streets of Islamabad. I tried, but it didn’t feel right – this was not the Pakistan I wanted to portray. In October 2001 we had to leave, obeying our embassy’s advice: the airport might get bombed. We flew to Bangkok, leaving most of our stuff, our friends, our life behind.
I didn’t take many pictures during that first year in Pakistan – film was expensive and a round trip to the nearest photo store was a 35 hours bus journey through the Karakoram. I had a Nikon F100 and a Horizon, a cheap Russian panoramic camera. I was walking the hills, experimenting, learning.
