ENTRY DESCRIPTION
This photo was taken on a road leading from Islamabad towards the mountainous North of Pakistan, on Eid holidays in 2016. During Eid, people undertake long and straining travels to visit families and friends and the roads are heavily congested.

Sitting in the subsequent car, I was fascinated by the level of endurance and self-control of the little girl, expressed in her face, while an adult male, maybe a relative, kept the overview in the background. While her face talked of strain, but also of a strange indulgence, his face seemed relentless, showing no signs of empathy or support.

She was standing and holding herself only by clinging to a handle, while the car was rolling on the often bumpy road at normal speed. You could only imagine how long she had to maintain this position and the challenge not to loosen her grip.

This moment stands for the strong inclination to exert self-control, endure hardships and put the group's will above your own, which is deeply ingrained in the socio-cultural fabric of Pakistani culture and is expected already from the youngest members of society.

AUTHOR
Dr. Alamir is a political scientist by education and has been working in security policy and international development contexts for more than twenty years. In the wake of numerous business and private travels to Europe, Asia and Africa, she developed a keen interest in photojournalism, people and landscape photography. Around 2010, she assumed a more ambitious approach to photography and has been working to improve by professional standards ever since. Since 2017, she has won several honorable mentions in international photo competitions, among others several honorable mentions of the International Monoawards and the 1st prize (Discovery of the Year) 2019 of the Tokyo International Foto Awards.

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