Bringing the wildlife, natural beauty and cultural accounts all the way from South Africa, Laurence Savary held a solo exhibition of 40 photographs from her travels across Malawi at the V.M. Art Gallery. A French photographer based in Cape Town for 25 years now, has made multiple trips to Pakistan and this was her second exhibition in Karachi; the first one was in 2014 titled ‘Colourwalk to South Africa.’

Laurence may be a photographer but her lens captures images from a philosopher’s eyes. Everything from flowers, to wildlife co-existing and sharing home with other species, to family structures in Malawi captured to allow the visitors to make art. None of the pictures at the exhibition were titled, because the photographer encourages her audience to bring the meaning to a picture. In a candid talk with Laurence, she says, “My focus is beauty. I am only showing a beautiful picture and it can be anywhere in the world. My art is done by the public, I am just the facilitator.”

Expanding on her perspective, Laurence said, “I just click and then my shots are open to viewers to put their own meaning into it and translate it to their media, be it poetry or ideas. Bringing their own art into what is just an image.”

The agenda behind the exhibition was not to promote Malawi as a tourist destination but open people to the beauty of the city. She is a believer and an enabler of cross-cultural exposure, with an aim to making art a thing for everyone. When asked if she plans on exhibiting Pakistan in South Africa, Laurence said it’s been on the agenda for a while. “What I would like to do is what reflects on the whole of Pakistan. It’s in my heart, if I have the beauty, I can’t just keep it. The only thing that lasts are the ones that I (have) shared,” said the solo exhibitionist, adding that it’s just a matter of when and how.

The photographer has a special connection with Pakistan, especially the North where a family adopted her mid-way on her travels to China. Her adoptive mother, hailing from Sost, was present at the opening of the exhibition and they shared plans of traveling across the North where Laurence intends to capture and build her collection of Pakistan’s natural landscapes.