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Aim
Clifton, on the coast of the Arabian Sea, is a favored recreational spot for Karachi's beleaguered citizens. Every weekend, thousands of families flee their strife-ridden and landlocked neighborhoods - Nazimabad, Liaquatabad, Korangi, Malir - for the relative peace of Clifton, and for the cooling relief of the seaside breeze - the only relief in the desert that is Karachi.
Shooting ranges like this one are common on the beach. One often sees ten or twelve year olds taking aim, assisted by their fathers, who themselves take an occasional shot. I was struck by the strangeness of the targets - little commandos and cartoonesque animals oddly pinned into the fabricated landscape. The evening was particularly hot and humid, and as I loaded the film into the developing tank, it got stuck, buckled, and cracked. These are the cracks scarring the fictive desert in "Aim."


After the rain


70 Clifton


Neighbors

Kharadar, the oldest neighborhood in Karachi was one my favorites to stroll around in in search of a photograph. In addition to the colonial architecture, you find the irony of condemned buildings uninhabited on the inside but inhabited on the outside by heroin addicts. The sidewalk space taken up by each addict is generally fixed. Even though relations between the addicts vary, the sense of neighborliness dominates their interactions. They share everything from water to matches. I remember this particularly about these two, who were in the midst of a conversation, when I took the photograph.


Murid


Stopping traffic

During the final days of Ramzan, as Eid draws nearer, traffic cops are found prowling the streets in greater numbers than usual. Hungry and hot, they are ruthless. Motorcycles and yellow cabs are their primary targets. However noone is truly protected from these men in white seeking their Eid bonus.