About Farah Mahbub
Since 1988, Karachi based Farah Mahbub has been exhibiting as a photographer in Pakistan and abroad. Equally adept in analogue printing as she is in the digital darkroom, her work traverses from documentary to digital photo-montage techniques, incorporating layers of light, shade, textures, architecture, natural objects, animals, landscapes and calligraphic text.
Her visual-scapes, often unpopulated, are as dense as the multiple meanings they extend to, inspired by philosophical discourse on Sufism and insights garnered from traveling and reflections on nature in the respite of her studio. Over the years, her art has assembled equal praise and critique, as the art world has moved towards accepting photography as a fine art medium while abandoning notions of analogue purism.
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Teaching and Professional Experience:
Professor of Photography, Visiting Faculty at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture – 1997- 2000
Professor of Photography, Permanent Faculty at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture – 2000 till date.
Solo and Group Exhibitions:
2016
‘Sharing the Legacy’, Pakistan Single Country Exhibition, BMICH, Colombo,
Artroom: Collective Loft, Antidote art & design, Dubai
2015
‘Hidden From View’, Women Photographers Photographing Women of Pakistan, Canadian High Commission, Islamabad
Artroom: Villa 21, Antidote art & design, Dubai
2013
‘Kam Sukhan’, Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture Gallery, Karachi
2012
‘Baraka Silsila.e.Nisbat’, V.M Art Gallery, Karachi
2011
‘The Family’, Solo Show, VM Art Gallery Karachi
‘Faculty Art 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6’, Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture Galley, Karachi
‘Jashan’ Solo Show, Khaadi Flagship Store, Dubai
‘K’architecture’, Expo Centre Karachi and Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture Gallery, Karachi
2009
“There and Then” Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi
2007
PX3 – Prix de la Photographie, 13 Sévigné Gallery, Paris
‘The Art of Digital Imagery’ The Center for Fine Art Photography Gallery, Fort Collins, Colorado
2005
‘Ethereal Ether Echoes’, Solo Show, V.M Art Gallery, Karachi
2000
‘Hues Within’, Sadequain Gallery Frere Hall, Karachi
SG Forum Art Gallery, Alliance Francaise, Karachi
Awards and Honours:
PX3 – Prix de la Photographie
The Center for Fine Art Photography
Camera & Darkroom
Inclement Weather Contest, CA
Catalogues, Brochures:
2012
Baraka Silsila.e.Nisbat Farah Mahbub , Karachi
2010
‘Buzzing’, Abdullah M.I. Syed, V.M. Art Gallery, Karachi
‘Faculty Art 1, 2, 3, 4, 5’ Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture, Karachi
2007
‘Artist’s Showcase’, The Centre for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado
2006
The Aga Khan University Prospectus, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations, MA in Muslim Cultures, London
Artists’ Voices: Body, Amin Gulgee Gallery, Karachi
Artists’ Voices: Calligraphy, Amin Gulgee Gallery, Karachi
2005
Ethereal Ether Echoes, Farah Mahbub, Karachi
2003
11th Asian Art Biennale, Dhaka
2002
An Idea of Perfection, Pakistan National Council f the Arts, Islamabad, Pakistan
Books:
2016
‘8’, Black Olive Publication, Edited by Arshad Faruqui & Amean J.p.172.ISBN 978-969-9251-62-7.
2013
‘Kam Sukhan’, Celebrating Women .
2010
K’ Architecture, Black Olive Publication, Edited by Arshad Faruqui & Amean J.p. 147.ISBN 978-969-9251-12-2.
2009
Mazaar, Bazaar, Design and Visual Culture in Pakistan, Edited & Designed by Saima Zaidi
2008
‘Journeys of the Spirit’, Pakistan Art in the New Millennium, Salwat Ali
2006
Blueprint to Cyanotypes: Exploring Historical Alternative Photographic Processes by Malin Fabbri and Gary Fabbri, Stockholm, Sweden
2006
‘Chobi Mela IV’, International Festival of Photography, Bangladesh
SHOP THE ARTIST
“ The knowledge that arises from contemplation is that knowledge that whirls the earth about the sun that raises and lowers the tides, that opens eyes and, eventually, for the devoted student, the heart. Those whose desire to see is strong enough will discern the hand of the designer in the symmetrical pattern of the leaves, the paint strokes of the artist in the strata of the rocks, the blueprints of the engineer in the placement of the stars.”
Essential Sufism by James Fadiman & Robert Frager
“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”
Ansel Adams
