Welcome to part 2 of my 2026 travel photography in Pakistan adventure!
If you’ve not seen part one – from Islamabad overland to Lahore, you can here.
To quickly bring you up to speed as to what a wedding photographer was doing in Pakistan: every year, my very understanding wife let’s me flap my creative wings and fly to a photographically interesting country for a few weeks. It re-charges my wanderlust, keeps me sharp as a wedding shooter and in a funny way helps me realise how much I love my family!
This year I went with Hamish Irvine and Kristian Leven (fellow wedding photographers and dear pals)! We booked flights to Islamabad and home from Lahore, and pretty much left what to do in between once we got there. The trip was almost cancelled after an Islamabad I.S. terror attack the week before we flew, but advice from people on the ground there was to go anyway (for many reasons, but mainly because attacks are very rare).
And we’re so glad we did!
We couldn’t have felt more safe and welcome, travelling and photographing these busy cities of Pakistan!
Across the entire trip I didn’t feel in danger once. I rely on spider senses tuned for danger from past trips, and weirdly Pakistan went the other way: I’ve never felt safer and the welcome we received was insane! Surreal almost. See my first post for some wild and generous examples.
To help with our initial safety concerns, we hired a driver to shuffle us around Rawalpindi and Islamabad and then overland to Lahore. We headed via Mirpur & Rohtas Fort, on the edge of Kashmir. It was great to take in the arid landscapes and towns on route, enjoying colourful ornate trucks in chaotic traffic with animals and produce hanging over the sides. After visiting into a tiny rural village for a real life ‘Pied Piper’ experience, we checked into our hotel in Lahore (noticing a full machine gun emplacement over the road, protecting a government building)
Travel photography in Pakistan around the Old Walled City of Lahore is incredible!
If Islamabad is the modern, green capital, Rawalpindi an endless labyrinthine market where there’s nothing you can’t buy, Lahore is the poetic heart of Pakistan. It’s a walled warren of an old town dotted with incredible Mughal forts, mosques and ancient havelis. To end the we trip flew to Karachi, the storm of energy on Pakistan’s South coast, for a different and altogether warmer experience.
Karachi, with apparently over 30million residents, is a Street Photographer’s delight!
This post is also a review of the all-in-one travel superzoom Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD lens I bought for the trip to test out! And the quick summary was WOW! Heavy, but brill.
Along with the standard mental traffic and wiring, the first thing I noticed about Lahore was it’s age, with ornate wooden balconies looking like they’re clinging on for dear life.
As in all my favourite countries: Life is colourful, and lived out on the streets.
An old man I met said “Whoever has not been to Lahore has not been born”
Most conversations in Pakistan run as follows: “Hello Sir, where are you from, what is your country?”
Times infinitum.
It’s charming, warm and sometimes overwhelming. It leads to handshakes, selfies and often altruistic gifts of chai and street food (with no strings attached).
Occasionally, we met people who spoke conversational English, such as the students above on the colourful Fort Road food street.
They ended up interviewing us on their phones and we had a fascinating conversation about why it’s difficult taking photos of women in Pakistan. Without permission, it appeared to be partly against the religion, partly for safety. It was a confusing, mixed message throughout the trip, and the easiest practice was to avoid doing it without express permission. The majority of men there were practically begging to have their portrait taken, and it was a shame that women were underrepresented in our photography.
Respecting and embracing a culture is part of the travel experience, and we had great conversations with women, in spite of often being denied a photo.
A highlight of Lahore was visiting the stunning Badshahi mosque, a masterpiece of Indo-Islamic architecture.
The pink sandstone facade and white marble domes make it the Taj Mahal of mosques.
As potentially the only man in the entire country wearing shorts, Hamish had to sarong up to gain entry.
Built in 1673 by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, it’s still one of the largest mosques in Pakistan.
Inside there’s a grand solitude to the space, offering a moment’s quiet reflection from the chaos outside its walls.
In it’s courtyard, it almost looks like it’s made by AI!
The pic of Hamish & K-man taking a breather below was one of my fave behind the scenes portraits.
I love that they’re at a special desk for Foreign Visitors.
Later we headed over to the Lahore Fort – a grand, impregnable citadel spanning 20 hectares – but my favourite view from the Sheesh Mahal (‘palace of mirrors’), overlooking the Badshahi Mosque surrounded by circling red kites.
The next day we entered Lahores old walled city through Delhi gate and after sharing live locations on our WhatsApp group, set off at random into the warren of markets and tiny side streets.
On every level it was just so industrious. Life upon life, with work being done in every nook and cranny, on every floor.
The sounds of frying or sewing machines, ringing out over the hubbub.
Occasionally you pop out into a spacious square and find an enormous ancient mosque (such as the huge Wazir Khan Mosque or Golden Majib above).
I’d ask if it’s ok to go in and take photos, and was rarely turned back.
Check out the mad eye position on these local goats in the pic below? They wouldn’t look amiss in the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine!
A little aside for the shutterbugs:
In the past I generally carry a Sony 24-105mm f4, a Sigma Art f1.4 35mm and 50mm as well as a lightweight Sony 85mm f1.8 to bolt onto my Sony A9 series DSLR.
This trip, I thought I’d try to replace the entire arsenal of lenses with a single lens: the Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD. It’s claimed to be “a highly versatile, fast-aperture ‘all-in-one’ zoom lens for Sony E-mount and Nikon Z-mount full-frame mirrorless cameras. Offering an impressive f/2-2.8 aperture range, it combines popular focal lengths from 35mm wide-angle to 150mm telephoto, making it ideal for portraits, travel, and events, often replacing the need for multiple prime lenses”
Full-transparency: I took the tiny 85mm in case I didn’t get on with the Tamron, but didn’t use it once!
For all the hyperbole, the sales pitch was right! It’s a killer all-rounder. I shoot the majority of my photos at f2 – IMO the ideal blend of artistic depth-of-field and likelihood of landing what you’re aiming at in focus. This lens starts at f2 and as you zoom in, creeps up toward f2.8, which is still pretty good in low light. At the long end (which is longer than I’d usually have on a trip like this), I’m reminded of how nice the 70-200 f2.8 zoom range is.
So this chunky lens genuinely provides the prime feel of 35 and 50, as well as that fast aperture telephoto zoom vibe… without changing lenses or lumping about a load of glass!
However, there is a downside. THE WEIGHT. Oof.
I’d already aggravated my elbow digging soil into a skip over Xmas, and at the end of a long day’s shooting here with this on the arm, I felt like I had an RSI.
Was it worth it? You can be the judge!
I’ve also tried to get into the habit on these trips of providing the subjects I shoot with a pic there and then!
Using the Sony Imaging Edge app on my iPhone, I can transfer the high-res pic to my phone and send it HD via WhatsApp to the recipient!
It’s a fun way of not just ‘taking’ photos on these trips.
This was the first day of Ramadan, so prayer was a priority around the country. We weren’t sure how it was going to affect our trip, but thankfully our hotels were happy to give us a late breakfast, then through the day we’d not eat publicly (often taking a quick snack/drink in a tuktuk, then waiting for the breaking of the fast before eating out). It did lead to some amazing scenes of ‘Iftar’, as communities gathered for figs and biriani at sundown.
Ramadan affected market opening times, but on the whole it was business as normal around an interesting month long period of devotion.
The thing we noticed most was the lack of karak chai when we ran up against photo-exhaustion!
There’s nothing like that sugary ‘South Asian Espresso’ when you need a boost (pic by Hamish a few days prior).
After a fascinating explore around the old Walled City we dived in a tuktuk for another station fix, at Lahore Junction
Stations are photo gold mines in the Asian sub-continent.
As it was Ramadan, it was fascinating to see spots around the station with people getting mats out and having a pray.
When this chap had finished, he found me and said hello and asked what I was doing. Then he took me to the platform tuk shop he worked in and offered me a free bottle of pop.
I chose Fanta. He told me Fanta was a lady’s drink!
Yet again, the welcome kept reaching new levels.
Every window is a potential frame, with generations of life wondering what I’m up to just as much as I am them!
I’m not sure if this works entirely, but I like the idea that the milk is the POWER
These are possibly two of my fave Lahore pics: seeing a man trying to get his new tractor tyre home on the train and a station porter looking frankly brilliant in his red overalls.
I often go on about Steve McCurry’s epic environmental portraits, and love it when I get anywhere close to his level.
And this beauty was achieved on the all-in-one Tamron! The lens that keeps giving (arm ache)
A good test of the lens was at night. It’s usually not the ideal sitch for a zoom lens, that tries to do everything. I expected it to fall down focussing, or not be fast enough in aperture.
But you know what, wandering around the Gawalmandi Food Street (chasing the infamous Phajja Siri Paye meat soup) it was also great!
I love the street scenes, frying up night snack samosas under the arches
This is another of my fave pics, low and lucky, framing a little street scene perfectly.
Not long after this shot, I was about to head home and started chatting with some guys. One told me he’d married a Scottish lady and lived awhile in Aberdeen, but moved back to Lahore for business. He spun out his tale while feeding me mystery spiced ghee and potato based streetfood, and before I knew it I was on the back of his mates motorbike getting a night-time tour of Lahore and a lift home!
The welcome cherry on yet another mad day in Pakistan…
I’d heard about a spot called the Truck Adda, where they wash, repair and paint the colourful trucks, on Lahore’s GT Road, so the next morning we got a cab over.
Getting out we found ourself in an epic wholesale potato street market! So up I clambered on unstable stacks of spuds and got stuck in.
This is a hair style I aspire to!
I couldn’t see much of the truck painting, as there was so much going on
I’m pretty sure these were what I’d been fed the night before!
I found myself talking to a lovely truck driver called Ali, and he introduced me to his mates (below) in the driver quarters and bought me chaat, mystery yoghurty fruit and a bottle of Sprite!
I asked him if there was a truck repairers in the area and he became my personal guide for over an hour, paying for a tuk tuk ride to the mechanics yards.
There I met characters like this chap, the chief
And found charmingly simple scenes like this. I love the flag on the brick wall
I love how these drivers have cunningly engineered a hammock to the bottom of their trucks!
Ali explained to me that the kids work in the mechanics literally sucking the engine parts to check they’re sealed!
We stomped around for a while, he holding my hand as we crossed roads, saying “This is Pakistan” with a smile every time something crazy happened.
Before we split, this generous gent asked me back to his house to break fast with him. Sadly, it was our last day in Lahore and we had a reservation at Andaaz – the fanciest restaurant we ate at the entire trip overlooking the Badshahi Mosque – which while delicious gave us ALL the trots!
The most expensive meal of the trip broke my guts! After all the random street eats. Go figure…
An easy internal flight later and we were in Karachi on Pakistan’s South Coast!
It was Pakistan’s first capital (from 1947-59), chosen by the founder of the nation Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The first thing you notice is that it’s a tasty 10°C warmer than Lahore!
After a stroll on Clifton Beach, the first thing we tried to do was get into an amazing wholesale fish market, but sadly quickly got stopped by security.
The next thing I noticed was the old colonial influence, especially around Saddar town – with crumbling Raj-y buildings called Empress Market (after Queen Victoria)
A highlight of Karachi was visiting the amazing Lalukhait Sunday livestock market, famed for the sale of birds and goats.
Plenty of characterful faces were there to be found. This man on the left was from Bangladesh, and was entertained by my extremely rusty Bengali!
We wandered the crazy goat market, awash in gorgeous golden hour sunshine.
The Tamron handled it beautifully, locking onto subjects with AF precision with great contrast.
Hamish almost ended up going home with a couple of baby goats!
I love this wacky pic of the guy’s face blending in with the goats! The mouth and eye position. It fries my brain a bit.
(I wish I’d dialled up the f-stop a fraction to be fair, so the guy’s mouth and chin were sharp too, but hey)
I love this little scene too, but I’m not sure if it’s just cause it says Karachi and has the flag painted on the railings. There’s something in the tones.
That evening, we went out for a meal with a friend of my brother-in-law, Naj. He went to school in St Albans with my wife’s brother and has been living with his wife and newborn Arsia in Karachi for the past 7 months. It was mainly due to him that we ended up braving this trip. He settled our nerves when we got twitchy, helped us plan a driver and arrange visas, then topped it off by treating us to a delicious BBQ at Kolachi restaurant, right next to fishing boats trawling the sea. Food is a bargain in Pakistan, and Naj claimed it is THE best restaurant in the world, pound for pound.
The next day, we decided just to take a cab to a random district of Karachi, Lyari, to see what’s up!
Within minutes we were swarmed by kids!
Here’s a fun BTS pic Hamish shot (shorts are more acceptable in toasty Karachi, apparently) taking the pic below…
You either have to go with it or get away when it comes to kids going bananas!
I crossed a bridge over the river, and noticed horse and camels being cared for under a motorway underpass.
One thing I noticed in Karachi was a greater and more obvious discrepancy between the very rich and the very poor.
The guys I met here had dignity, but very little else.
The chap below right and I had a (slightly broken) chat using google translate, about his life situation. He wasn’t asking for money, but said his son was very ill, at deaths door. I gave him 500 rupees (£1.50), and he then took it on himself to be my guard and guide. He steered a few folk away (even giving them some of his own rupees to clear off) and warned me to watch my phone and camera as there are desperate people shooting up. Meanwhile, young kids in school uniforms passed by chattering merrily.
A short cab hop later (who again refused my money saying ‘you are our guest!’) we reunited at a stunning mosque Naj attends, called Masjid-e-Tooba.
It was a lovely peaceful space, under an expansive shallow dome. These teenagers caught my eye, reading the Quran in the sunshine…
And a bit of patient waiting later, this Imam came up to chat to them.
One of my faves of the trip, with all the shadows and sunspots at play.
Later we tuktuk’d through the madness to the Bolton Market district
We were all getting a bit frazzled by the onslaught of ‘what is your country’, so grabbed deep-fried street eats and sought staircases to higher-ground.
On the rooftop we were enjoying some delicious peace and this little chap popped his head out of the mosque next door!
We set our sights on another rooftop and somehow found our way to it, affording some fab sunset views of the traffic chaos below…
I love the way locals ride on the roof of the buses here. I’ve many fond memories of careening down raised roads on top of buses in Bangladesh back in 1999!
One of the main highlights of Karachi is Clifton Beach.
It might stink of the rancid effluent that’s flowing out onto it, and be covered in litter, but it’s got a magic charm.
I wandered a while, and sat with a homeless guy in front of the Emirates Towers and a McDonalds. We exchanged sweets (I had a load of Sherbert Lemons to give out) and he introduced me to his dog.
Earlier that day, Hamish and I had been at the Mariott hotel enjoying the rooftop pool and mocktails. The extremes are more pronounced in Karachi that’s for sure.
Apparently, Karachi brings in about 50% of the trade of the country.
There was a real charm watching this father repair his kids’ kites with litter from the beach.
As the light turned ever more golden, you can’t help but fall in love with this beach.
After an indulgent ride on Babu the camel, a family demanded I take their sons seat and eat with them!
Then I got lost in the golden light
Before the sun had fully set, all the camel/horse/dune buggy wallahs descended on one spot for another Ramadan Iftar breaking of the fast.
It was one of the nicest ones we saw. There was a real sense of community, and it’s a time where those with more provide for those with less.
Surprise surprise, they fed us too!
Somehow, that evening we found an appetite again to eat at the famous Lal Quila – a Mughul themed buffet overflowing with barbecue meat, national & streetfood specialities. I ate A LOT of gol gappay – Pakistan’s delicious response to Indian Pani Puri! We feasted, while watching England play Pakistan at cricket on the giant screens. England won and the manager brought us out an entire congratulatory chocolate cake!
It’s mad that over the entire trip we’d seen no more than a handful of tourists. The way the world thinks of Pakistan (and the media portray it) needs to change. At our last meal, we did have an honest chat about would we visit Pakistan if it weren’t for taking photos, and we weren’t sure. For me, there’s so much more to see – particularly in the dramatic, mountainous North when it’s not so snowed in.
As unusual travel destinations go; there aren’t many cultures this interesting, places still so untouched, with a welcoming this overwhelming, left to visit in the world!
Get there before everyone else does.
A man I ended up sat chatting with in Tooba Mosque said to me “Photography is the best job in the world! Your job is disclosing realities”
Amen to that.
Thanks for reading!
B
