“The Day I Found Peace”
Location: Skardu, Pakistan
Date: October 2021
Photographer: Mah Rukh Raja
Affiliation: Graduate Student
Home Country: Pakistan
Category: Places
2026 International Photography Exhibition
“This photograph was taken on a work trip, where I was the interior design lead for an upcoming luxury resort for Pakistan Air Force. I took this picture from my project site. I had recently suffered a huge personal loss - the biggest and the toughest one of my life. And on this day, here I was, finishing up what was possibly the most important project of my career. As I stood in front of this beautiful, magnificent landscape that brought together the open sky and water, and everything in between, I thought: "The God who made THIS and let ME witness it, will make it ok." At this point in time, I was at my lowest and highest at the same time. And for one glorious moment, I felt at peace. And I took it all in.”