• Interior designer Zahra Afridi, left, talks to a carpenter at a workshop on the outskirts of Islamabad. Afridi runs her own interior design company. Her most recent project was the Classic Rock Coffee cafe in Islamabad.
    Interior designer Zahra Afridi, left, talks to a carpenter at a workshop on the outskirts of Islamabad. Afridi runs her own interior design company. Her most recent project was the Classic Rock Coffee cafe in Islamabad.
  • Lead guitarist and songwriter, Khurram Waqar, right, vocalist Umair Jaswal, light, bass guitarist Rahail Siddiqui, second left, and drummer Asfendyar Ahmad of the rock band Qayaas rehearse at a private studio in Islamabad. The band feels that the current security situation has hampered the country’s music scene. Most of the band’s performances are at schools, colleges or private festivals.
    Lead guitarist and songwriter, Khurram Waqar, right, vocalist Umair Jaswal, light, bass guitarist Rahail Siddiqui, second left, and drummer Asfendyar Ahmad of the rock band Qayaas rehearse at a private studio in Islamabad. The band feels that the current security situation has hampered the country’s music scene. Most of the band’s performances are at schools, colleges or private festivals.
  • Aleena Raza gets ready for a party in her dressing room in Lahore. Raza manages textile retail brand So Kamal, which is owned by her mother, Erum Ahmed.
    Aleena Raza gets ready for a party in her dressing room in Lahore. Raza manages textile retail brand So Kamal, which is owned by her mother, Erum Ahmed.
  • Aleena Raza stands behind her three-year-old son Ryan as he plays on a tablet computer in his room in Lahore. Raza manages textile retail brand So Kamal, which is owned by her mother, Erum Ahmed.
    Aleena Raza stands behind her three-year-old son Ryan as he plays on a tablet computer in his room in Lahore. Raza manages textile retail brand So Kamal, which is owned by her mother, Erum Ahmed.
  • Children take part in a reading session at the Treehouse Nursery and Kindergarten school run by Naadiya Manzur in Islamabad.
    Children take part in a reading session at the Treehouse Nursery and Kindergarten school run by Naadiya Manzur in Islamabad.
  • Educationalist and model Fatima walks past the swimming pool after working out in her gym at her house in Lahore. Fatima is the chief executive officer of Beaconhouse School System, a network of private schools, founded by her mother-in-law. T
    Educationalist and model Fatima walks past the swimming pool after working out in her gym at her house in Lahore. Fatima is the chief executive officer of Beaconhouse School System, a network of private schools, founded by her mother-in-law. T
  • Rock climber Nazia Parveen, right, jokes with her trainer Imran Junaidi during their practice in Islamabad. Parveen is originally from a Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). She said she wanted to change the image of women in these areas, and that nothing was impossible for a woman if she had a goal in mind.
    Rock climber Nazia Parveen, right, jokes with her trainer Imran Junaidi during their practice in Islamabad. Parveen is originally from a Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). She said she wanted to change the image of women in these areas, and that nothing was impossible for a woman if she had a goal in mind.
  • Sarah, right, and her brother, artist Usman Ahmed, second right, smoke a water pipe, also known as a narghile, as they sit with friends at home in Islamabad.
    Sarah, right, and her brother, artist Usman Ahmed, second right, smoke a water pipe, also known as a narghile, as they sit with friends at home in Islamabad.
  • Pilates instructor Zainab Abbas, left, leads a class at her fitness studio in Lahore. Abbas opened her fitness studio, Route2Pilates, in Lahore after receiving training in Bangkok, Thailand. She carries out rehabilitation workouts for people with joint problems as well as specialised workouts for pregnant women.
    Pilates instructor Zainab Abbas, left, leads a class at her fitness studio in Lahore. Abbas opened her fitness studio, Route2Pilates, in Lahore after receiving training in Bangkok, Thailand. She carries out rehabilitation workouts for people with joint problems as well as specialised workouts for pregnant women.
  • Ansa Hasan, a marketing manager at Porsche Pakistan, plays with a parrot at her house in Lahore.
    Ansa Hasan, a marketing manager at Porsche Pakistan, plays with a parrot at her house in Lahore.
  • Interior designer Zahra Afridi uses a circular saw as she sculpts a stone guitar outside the Classic Rock Coffee cafe in Islamabad. Afridi runs her own interior design company and her most recent project was a Classic Rock Coffee cafe in Islamabad.
    Interior designer Zahra Afridi uses a circular saw as she sculpts a stone guitar outside the Classic Rock Coffee cafe in Islamabad. Afridi runs her own interior design company and her most recent project was a Classic Rock Coffee cafe in Islamabad.

The Other Pakistan by Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

Robert Mickelson

July 09, 2014

  • English
  • Arabic

Though instability continues to plague Pakistan and many areas are dominated by social conservatism, some of the country’s more affluent residents have worked to fashion a very different kind of lifestyle for themselves. Pictures of men and women taking part in all sorts of activities and professions - from being a Pilates instructor, to a textile retail entrepreneur, to a member of a rock band - offer a different view of Pakistan to images of conflict that often make the news.

Photo and text by Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

Edit and sequencing by Assigning Photo Editor RJ Mickelson

Pakistan