I woke up at 2am this morning for my Sehri (morning meal) and asked myself, hmm..am I hungry? The answer is no, so I drank a glass of water, read my prayer and went to sleep. This morning I received a VERY interesting email from a lovely person regarding the importance of eating properly during this month. The advice is offered as part of the NHS and Communities in Action.  Please do take a read of the document below, even if you are not fasting or not muslim. It’s a great insight into the whole month and will educate you a little if not much. Happy fasting!

Guide to Eating in Ramadan (click on the link)

Still have photos in your camera or on your laptop? Send them over to Saba Hussain Photography right now and have them transformed into a beautiful 20 page (40 sides) coffee table book. The books are 10×10 in size, the pages are 170gsm silk coated stick and the cover is photographically printed with gloss laminate. Furthermore, if you order another book, you’ll get a further 10% discount! All this for only £75 for the first book, you cannot afford to miss out on this fantastic deal!! Order your now by emailing me your name and contact number. Hurry, the offer ends July 31st!

Contact me at saba@sabahussain.co.uk for further information.

Martin Oliver is a down to earth kind of guy, I think I liked him as a photographer. His work was good but his business was all inspiring. He encouraged the room full of 25 keen photographers to believe in themselves and to THINK BIG. So that’s what I’m going to do!

As I stepped out of Allama Iqbal  International Airport, I felt the morning chill, the remnants of an unusually long winter that still lingered. I was staying with my mother in Lahore and it was a weeklong trip that was to leave me both spiritually and emotionally stirred.

After a day or so, I found that daily life for the well off folk was pretty much as I expected; shopping, eating out, socialising and so on. They seemed to have a somewhat blinkered view of their country, choosing to ignore the daily calamities that befell those around them who were less fortunate.

Inflation is soaring and the price of basic commodities is at an all time high. The working people, the majority, are unable to afford to even purchase basic essentials such as flour, rice, sugar and oil on a regular basis.

I spoke to Kiran, a 12-year-old maid that worked in a house nearby. I asked her about going to school, friends and other interests. She replied, in a soft melancholy voice that ‘…this work is my life, nothing will ever change that. I was born into poverty and will die in poverty. No-one can do anything for so I am making the best of what I can’. Such profound words from a little girl who, in this country, would may be watching the X-Factor, reading girlie magazines and going to the cinema.

The gap between rich and poor is vast and the lower middle class(es) have been squeezed into poverty. As I talked to more workers in the area, a common theme emerged: despair and hopelessness.  From the higher middle class people to the sweeper on the street, they all said that they wanted to leave the country because there were no future prospects and that life would be difficult and miserable with the current economic and political environment.

There are police gunmen at most street corners, on top of schools and mosques and outside parks in the rich areas. Who are they protecting? What are they protecting them from? No-one, everyone? A sense of cautiousness fills me as I move around the city of Lahore. I was told many horrific stories about kidnappings and murders that occurred within many of the families I spoke to.

The people of Lahore and Pakistan need help to build up community spirit once more. They need to feel that there is someone or something that cares for them and their lives. The impoverished children live an oblivious life, they have no childhood to speak of, I met a little boy of 6 years, selling corn in a basket at the side of a dusty road. He smiled at me, a rare moment in my trip, may be he was unaware of the future that awaited him, or maybe today he will be able to eat a decent meal – I offered him Rs. 500 (approx £3.75) for all his corn.  He was overjoyed at the monthly income. I smiled back at him and as I walked away with a basket full of corn, I realised that what Pakistan needs most right now is hope.

The above photo is of a young man working in a building. He stopped to watch me with my camera then, momentarily, his gaze and expression changed. What was he thinking I asked myself?

The Love Birds Experience

Just the two of you…

Allocate some time for the both of you and pamper yourself with the ‘Love Birds Experience’. Here, you will meet Saba on location of your favourite place and we create a lovely series of memoirs that you can look back upon in years to come. A beautiful and romantic way to capture natural and stylish images of you and your favourite places. You can also use this as your pre-wedding shoot and decide what kind of portraits you would like to include and have framed for the big day!  Images are normally presented in a digital album or a coffee table book and there are also a many other products that you can select to suit your needs.

Prices start from £75.