Taken from the backseat of a rickshaw while traveling between interview sites. The rickshaw industry has traditionally absorbed Karachi’s rural-to-urban migrants. At first, most rickshaw drivers were Pashtuns who hailed from Pakistan’s northwest. But as Pashtun migration shifted towards the Gulf and second-generation Pashtuns took to other professions, Karachi’s newer crop of economic migrants — the Saraikis from southern Punjab — have begun to fill these roles.

A member of the Pakistan Rangers, a paramilitary law enforcement organization with a long and troubled history in Karachi. My data show that the Rangers command more public trust than the police, and are credited for reducing violent crime and militancy in the city. Nevertheless, many communities still remember suffering rights violations at the hands of the force — especially during “Operation Clean-Up” in the 1990s. This photo was taken from the adjoining car, and I was careful not to capture the ranger’s full face.

Graffiti on a wall inside the nine-zero compound, where I was treated with both extreme hospitality and marked suspicion. Nine-zero housed the MQM’s headquarters and was the heart of the ethnic political party’s activities for nearly three decades. Political graffiti is a common feature of Karachi’s landscape. This particular message calls for an end to the ban on media coverage of Altaf Hussain — the party’s supremo and “Father of the Muhajir Nation.”

The view from inside a dense apartment complex in North Karachi — a working-class, Muhajir-dominant area which was traditionally a stronghold of the MQM. The family I was with was split on the utility of ethnic politics at this time.

A dilapidated bus (with “MQM” spray-painted on) captured during a traffic jam. Traffic conditions in Karachi all but ensured that some of my most fruitful conversations were with cab drivers taking me from site to site. I’m not entirely sure where I took this photo.

Taken around midnight at a PSP rally, where the audience patiently waited to be addressed by Karachi’s former mayor Mustafa Kamal. The PSP — which performed very poorly in the 2018 election — is a non-ethnic breakaway faction of the MQM.

Taken on the day of the 2018 General Election at an MQM-Haqiqi camp. The flag says “Muhajir”, referring to Karachi’s largest ethnic group.

Taken from the balcony of the guesthouse I stayed in most regularly during field trips. It is now closed.