If somebody asks me; what’s my favorite blogging genre?  My reply would be photo blogging. There is
nothing exciting than to capture your favorite moment in the camera and write
an exciting piece on it. This month’s featured blogger is one man who has been
doing it quite well since the advent of blogging in Pakistan. His blog posts
and photographs accentuates social issues and adds an artistic touch to it.

Name:  Jamal Ashiqain aka Jamash

Sites he claim:   http://jamash.wordpress.com/

                             http://karachiart.blogspot.com/

                             http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamash/

                             http://www.jamash.com/

Claim to Fame:  The person we all like to get shot from!

 

1. Tell us something about
yourself and how did you indulge in the habit of photography and eventually
photo blogging?

  

 I am just another person on a
voyage of self discovery. I started taking pictures while I was still at
school, it that was only with a camera which used a Film roll. I bought my
first digital point and shoot camera back in 2005, and upgraded to a better
model (Olympus) after a year which is really when I started discovering
photography and started to upload pictures on flicker- And since then there was
no stopping.

I started up as a blogger because I wanted to express, my feelings, views,
ideas and thoughts. Photo blogging came much later when I started taking
photographs at art exhibitions, I am an art enthusiast and somewhat a collector
too, but I don’t often write about art because I believe the real essence of
visual art cannot be described easily in words.   

2. What topics do you choose to blog about?

 I mainly blog about social issues,
my photo blogs usually revolve around performance/visual arts.

 

3. What’s your general inspiration when you take any photograph?

 

  In photography my main
inspiration actually come from artists like Ather Jamal, Jamil naqsh,
sadequain, Mian Salahuddin, Shahid Sajjad, Mondrian, monet, leonardo da
vinci.. and so many others the list would go on. Yes I do realize that none of them
are photographers but they teach how to arrange things on a canvas and place
the lines and elements to achieve a balance. Only my canvas in the frame I see
through the viewfinder of the camera to compose a photograph.

 

 4. A picture speaks a thousand
words; do you use your talent to raise social and political issues?

I do visit most of the art
Exhibitions and performances and take photographs there, it is  mostly not
for money but because I want people to start taking an interest in visual arts,
so they can learn to look deeper into the issues of the society that we are
part of.

I have also done a number of photographs to raise social awareness and
challenge the taboos around us.  

5. Print media is guilty of plagiarism particularly in cases when pictures of
photo bloggers like you have been used without due permission or credit. How
many times you didn’t get the due recognition for your work?  And what
other photo bloggers should be doing to stop it?

Three times that I know of, they
published my photographs without my permissions and without mentioning my
credits. Also a certain Magazine which I worked for some time refused to
mention photo credits, dispute the fact that they were paying me some small
amount I refused to work for them.

I think Photographers should unite and take stand against those who publish
others work without their permission or refuse to mention their names. Photographers
shouldn’t give work to such publications, and should also raise their voice
against plagiarism on blogs and new/social media

6. What makes a photo blogger different from a regular blogger?

Regular blogger depends more on
words to narrate a story and a photo blogger does that with photographs but if
you can do both you become more lethal, but we must not forget that with power
comes responsibility.   

8. Your favorite blogs and why?

They are so many

http://kidvai.blogspot.com/ 
for he is a brilliant person and a writer, and one gets to learn a lot from his
blog   .

jehanara.wordpress.com 
everything about Technology and not just that there is more and it’s never
boring to read, one really feels alive being on this blog.

http://webstudio.ciopakistan.com/ 
because it is one of a kind platform which makes blogging so much fun.

 9. Tell us your most favorite
blogging experience so far?

Every single blog I write, or a post
in photographs is special and they are all equally favorite 

10. Your message to fellow bloggers
and youth of Pakistan?

Blog write
what you feel like writing but it should not impact the society negatively, it
should not hurt someone, it should not be a breach of someone’s privacy.
understand your responsibilities and earn your credibility.

11. Your opinion about Tea break Network and its team?

Tea Break is doing a wonderful job sorting out all the blogs, promoting them
and helping them reach the right audience which makes us really proud of them, keep
up the good work