Floating Flower Dear Maggie,

I was walking through Kabuto Gardens when, out of breath, I decided to stop beside a pond. It was the most disgusting sight I have ever seen—the water was covered with algae, and if you looked carefully, you could see dead worms floating in the water. But as I looked deeper into the pond, I saw a beautiful flower floating towards me. It was radiant, glowing in the shadows, as if it carried its on inner light. Suddenly, the pond became the most beautiful place I had ever seen.

No matter how ugly and terrible life can become, we will always have our love.
Read the Postcards Floating Flower Raja Amanullah's Truck Back of Raja Amanullah's truck, Islamabad, Pakistan When I first came to the United States, I was shocked to learn how my fellow students view Pakistan and the lives of the 212.2 million people that live there. Some of my friends earnestly asked whether I used to ride a camel to school, while others made declarative statements such as “Pakistan is the only real existential threat to our way of life.” It was shocking to see how quick people were to classify me (and other Pakistanis) as a threat to everything their lives stood for, without even taking the time to know anything about me.

Without any regard for history (or geography), they imagined Pakistan as a barbaric, colorless desert where men are chauvinistic, women disrespected, and where art and culture go to die.

This imagined reality was altogether very different from the lush hills and valleys I grew up in, a place of colors and love. The picture in the postcard shows the back of a Cargo truck; do you think the flower, the colors, and calligraphy are the product of a culture considered the “most dangerous place in the world?” Read the Postcards Raja Amanullah's Truck White Flower Dear Maggie,

Can you find the white flower?

Love,
Sanwal Read the Postcards White Flower Spirit in the Sky Sometimes I feel likee a fish floating in the sky, with no place to really call home. Read the Postcards Spirit in the sky Light and Love Dear Maggie,

Light and love flooding in Can’t get enough of it.

It’s been 4 years since I have seen my brother…and Mikael is all grown up. Wish you were here.

Love,
Sanwal Read the Postcards Light and Love Tiger Tiger on the shore of the pacific ocean Saqib Ada

Lately, whenever I dream, I dream of a tiger and a cobra. They give me great financial advice. I paid off all my debt!

Sending a dream your way

Love,
Sanwal Read the Postcards Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright Selfie Stick We had just reached Muree, a hill station on the way to the Himalayas, when a snow-storm hit. Mist shrouded everything, so much so that one could only see the world unravel one footstep at a time. With snow on on side and massive, jagged cliffs on the other, one wrong step meant you might plunge to your death. As we were walking, trying to make our way back to the car, I noticed a burly shadow in the distance next to the cliff.

It contorted itself into unnaturally strange and unexpected shapes. It appeared to b off-balance and ready to fall down the massive cliff at any moment. My heart started beating faster and faster as I ran towards the figure to help. When I got close enough, I realized the man had a selfie stick and was just showing off how high he was!

He reminded me of all those kids running around with a selfie sticks at the badlands national park.

Goes to show that people are just people, no matter where you are in the world!
Read the Postcards Selfie Stick Moving Tree Postcard Mountain Dear Papa,

Brown, green, red, white, and blue...everything was blanketed with beauty. "it's like an autumn wedding," maggie kept saying. Looking at Rainier, I couldn't stop thinking about the long summer trips we took to the Galyat; Ammy would pack a dozen thermoses with soup and we would spend the entire day trying to catch snowflakes.

Sometimes, I feel as if my life in America is like a postcard dream, no matter how perfect it may appear, it will always be a dream...my heart will always be in other places, thinking about all of you. I won't ever be whole. I wish I could wake up and hug you... Read the Postcards Moving Tree Tree swaying wildly, as if in an impressionist painting More images coming soon I am currently in the process of scanning all the postcards! Check back for more in a few days to read more. In the meantime, scroll below to look at the rst of the images from the series. Thank you! Read the Postcards

The Exhibit

For the gallery, I envision to exhibit the series as Large-scale prints of the photographs, alongside installations showing prints of the pictures with the postcards and texts. Here are a few examples:

Postcard Gallery