The Korgah Queens (ongoing)

The Korgah Queens: Women of the Loom, Daughters of the Mountains is a documentary and portrait series shot since 2022 in a remote village in Gilgit-Baltistan, Northern Pakistan. In this high-altitude region, the Wakhi community’s women have revived traditional weaving practices by using hand-dyed wool and looms inside a home they now use as their workshop. Their intricate work reflects centuries-old Wakhi art, a tradition that embodies survival, identity, and a profound connection to the land and ancestry. From hand-dyed threads to the final woven product, this practice not only transforms the material but becomes a subtle act of reclamation and resistance. What started as a means to earn an income at home has evolved into a movement to revive traditional knowledge, reclaim space and identity, particularly for women from a remote, underrepresented community. Each woven piece tells a story of resilience. From hand-dyed yarns to looms guided by learned experience, each woven piece reflects a lineage of care, artistic expression, cultural memory and ecological mindfulness. Created over repeated visits (still ongoing), this portrait and documentary photography project aims to document how textiles do more than clothe our bodies or fill our homes with an exotic nod to tradition. They not only carry the weight of memory in their hands but also the essence of culture, and the heartbeat of indigenous women who weave.