Muhammad Bakhsh Bhatti

Muhammad Bakhsh Bhatti (1921-1975)

Muhammad Bakhsh Bhatti (1921-1975) was an artist, photographer, and filmmaker whose photographs in the collection document the Pakistan Movement and the immediate aftermath of the Partition. His work joins that of other notable Pakistani photographers who captured this period including F. E. Chaudhry, Mian Aziz Ahmed Aznic, and Shri Govind Lal. As noted in a 2009 Nawa-i-Waqt article that chronicled Mr. Bhatti's life, he documented the Pakistan Movement at the same time that he was an active participant in it. As he attended Muslim League gatherings and events, he photographed what was happening around him and sent those photographs to newspapers for further distribution. In the late 1960s, Mr. Bhatti's photographs were exhibited at the Alhamra Art Centre in Lahore. Today, visitors to the Lahore Museum will see a number of his photographs in the Pakistan Movement exhibit therein.


2009 Nawa-i-Waqt article on the life of Muhammad Bakhsh Bhatti.

M. Bhatti, one of Pakistan Movement’s ardent members and an expert photographer who captured the Muslim League’s historical efforts and preserved them for incoming generations.

167 | تحریک پاکستان کا ایک پرجوش کارکن اور ماہر فن فوٹوگرافر ایم بھٹی جس نے مسلم لیگ کی جدوجہد کے ایک ایک تاریخی لمحے کو آنے والی نسلوں کے لئے اپنے کیمرے کی آنکھ سے محفوظ کر دیا and Taḥrīk-i Pākistān kā ek purjosh kārkun aur māhir fan foṭogrāfar Em Bhaṭṭī jis ne Muslim Līg kī jadojahad ke ek ek tārīḵẖī lamḥe ko āne wālī naslon̲ ke li’e apne kaimare kī ānkh se maḥfūẓ kar diyā
168 | M. Bhatti, one of the Pakistan Movement’s ardent members and an expert photographer who captured the Muslim League’s historical efforts and preserved them for incoming generations. and Taḥrīk-i Pākistān kā ek purjosh kārkun aur māhir fan foṭogrāfar Em Bhaṭṭī jis ne Muslim Līg kī jadojahad ke ek ek tārīḵẖī lamḥe ko āne wālī naslon̲ ke li’e apne kaimare kī ānkh se maḥfūẓ kar diyā
Mr. Bhatti with Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
The camera that Mr. Bhatti used to document the Pakistan Movement.
Mr. Bhatti's son and grandsons displaying his photographs in the Bhatti home.