The idea appeared deceptively simple — capturing landscape and tribal lifestyles. What made this assignment challenging and extreme was its locale – Balochistan – which has experienced a volatile security environment since the assassination of the Baloch tribal chief, Akbar Bugti, back in 2006.
The basic challenge was to avoid conflict and violence – both during the journey itself and while capturing people and places – while recording the lives of those communities nestled in various swathes of the province. The other was to document the vast expanse of Balochistan, a province stretching from the Iranian border in the west to a few kilometres short of the Indus River in the east; from the Suleiman Range in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south. Many districts lack secure physical infrastructure, such as roads and rail tracks, that allow for a smooth, expedited journey from one district to another.
