We had the good fortune of connecting with Farah Janjua and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Farah, do you feel you are working on or pursuing your passion?
I consider myself very fortunate that not only have I been able to pursue my passion for photography as a self-fulfilling profession but I’ve also utilized the skill to bring about a positive change in some ways. Being an artist and also a passionate traveler who finds the exploration of our world and its diverse beauty as much of a spiritual journey as a physical one, I believe I would not have been the same person if I had chosen a different path. As a photographer for around three decades and with several exhibitions and publications, I definitely feel like I am pursuing my passion. However, with this journey, came a sense of responsibility to use my skill and privilege for creating a better understanding, not only between people of different backgrounds and cultures, but also to work toward the betterment of humanity and highlight the social and humanitarian issues that affect us. In the recent years, especially since becoming a mother, my definition of what a peaceful world should look like has changed. I’ve realized one of the most dangerous threats to the future of our children is lack of more serious efforts toward achieving peaceful co-existence and interfaith harmony through empathy and mutual respect. I strongly believe in a world where everyone should be able to find comfort in knowing that they are safe to practice their faith or belief system, especially in our age of globalization. I recently published a photography book “Jerusalem-Three Souls in One City” promoting this very belief. The book is a pictorial testimony of how humanizing each other is the first step towards achieving peace. The book has been a huge success with a few hundred copies already sold and it’s been an honor to share the message through Book Talks and Interfaith lectures with different organizations which are working for building a more inclusive society, religious, political and humanitarian alike.

Has it been a smooth road?
It’s been a long, overall smooth road with some bumps along the way, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I started as a freelance photojournalist while in college in Pakistan. That was in early 1990s. I covered issues that concerned me deeply and which I felt needed to be highlighted and fixed. My first published story was about the stark income inequality that existed in the city where I lived. I went to the impoverished area right next to the affluent part of the city and covered  the contrast between the haves and have nots. The story got published in one of the major newspapers. Later on, I got hired as the official photographer on a contract basis by some of the humanitarian organizations with offices in Pakistan. In those days, it was unheard of for a female, not only to be a freelance photographer, but also for her to travel to the remote, often unchartered regions of the country unaccompanied by a family member. Fortunately, I had a supportive family and a personality that loved to defy the norms, so I wasn’t afraid to take the risk and traveled across the whole country covering programs and projects for NGOs like The World Food Program UN, Save the Children US, The Aga Khan Cultural Services etc. I was also hired by Seventeen Magazine to cover a story on Afghan refugee girls living in camps in Pakistan and their struggles to go to school under the Taliban rule in Afghanistan and by Jane magazine post 9/11covering the influx of Afghan refugees into the borders Pakistan due to the US retaliation. The experience included working with international journalists and it was the first step toward getting published on a global level. More importantly, it involved stepping out of my comfort zone and experiencing first hand the gruesome impact war has on humanity and witnessing the stories and tragedies straight out of the mouths of those most affected. Not only was that a huge test for my conscience, it was also an opening of a window of what reality is for millions of people that share the same planet with us. It changed me forever.

A couple of years later, I moved to the US and got admission in a Photography Graduate Program at the University of North Texas which I decided to discontinue after my first son was born. I felt that by continuing, I would not be able to balance the two roles and do justice to either and decided to enroll back after a few years. But then came along my other two children and I never went back. That didn’t however, stop me from continuing to find ways to purse my passion as a photographer.  I went on to have exhibitions and travel as much as I could, capturing and sharing whatever I could. Since then, I have had several solo and group exhibitions, the recent ones being on Jerusalem. The book on Jerusalem has been my greatest recent accomplishment because it expresses what matters to me the most: a hope for a peaceful world where we can try and solve our issues with respect and empathy towards each other and by consciously striving toward a rejection of dehumanization and embracing humanization under all circumstances.

I have been fortunate enough to travel to around 18 countries and learn so much from each and every one of them. I feel like I always come back home a different person after each travel. The greatest lesson being a photographer, travel and nature lover has taught me is that that all of humanity and creation is interconnected and interdependent and there is no positive future without realizing this basic fact. The only way to move forward and leave a better, more beautiful world for our children is through respecting the diversity around us.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My favorite places in Dallas, Fort Worth are Dallas Museum of Art, Kimbell Art Museum, Perot Museum, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. I also love Klyde Warren Park in Downtown Dallas, Fort Worth Water Gardens and Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. Favorite places to eat are Noodle Wave in Richardson which is a hole in the wall Thai place but the best restaurant in the area. I also love Cafe’ Medi in Keller and Fadi’s Mediterranean in Frisco. Grapevine Lake is a place where I like to go and relax with my family.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family and friends have been my greatest supporters throughout my journey as a photographer.

Website: www.farahjanjuaphotography.com
Instagram: @photographybyfj
Linkedin: Farah Janjua
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photographyfarahjanjua/
Other: Book: https://farahjanjuaphotography.com/jerusalem-three-souls-in-one-city/

Image Credits
Farah Janjua

www.bfamilyfilms.com