When you open Raw Life, the first thought that comes to mind is how visually striking it is. The coffee table book, the creation of Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture graduate Khaula Jamil, managed to sell considerably well after its launch. Priced at a hefty 3,000 rupees - in the same range as coffee table books from abroad - that is an achievement in itself given the impact of the recession on reading purchases.

The tome explores, very visually, the workings of the minds of ten creative professionals in Pakistan. Belonging from different genres of the arts, the book features Anoushey Ashraf, Arjumand Rahim, Hasan Zaidi, Kamila Shamsie, Mubashir Khan, Naiza Khan, Saad Haroon, Sara Jamil, Qurram Hussain and Yousuf Bashir Qureshi. Interspersed between the sections devoted to each creative, are quotes culled from different people on what they believe creativity is, which makes the book not just about what the people featured in it are saying, but also about the different perspectives that exist across the board. Another quirky aspect of the book are the photographs of graffiti on walls from places like the National College of Arts in Lahore or a street in Cairo, Egypt.

Raw Life, which is based on Khaula Jamil's final year thesis at IVSAA, is not one of those atypical books that drone on about someone's life and achievements. Each creative is documented in terms of their factual data, but this is where Khaula leaves her writing. The rest of the section is in first person, with the creative talking about their life and their work, answering a series of questions put to them by Khaula during her interviewing process for the book. And with ten such varied personalities featured in Raw Life, one is presented with a slew of different opinions: on creativity, on their environment, on how they feel they have evolved over the years. But because the book is in first person doesn't mean that Khaula's work is left there.

The visual impact of this book is what makes it stand out. It is designed beautifully and combined with offbeat photography of the creatives, the visuals tell a story of their own. Khaula has photographed the creatives in all sorts of moods: whether its in their work environment -there are photographs of Hasan Zaidi addressing crowds at Kara or Mubashir Khan cutting Maheen Khan's hair - and there are photographs of the creatives at home playing with their children or their pets. Because of the visual storytelling and the fact that it is all in first person, Raw Life comes across as a dialogue between the reader and the creative. It presents an insight into their work, as their page after page displaying it, ala Naiza Khan's works of art or Sara Jamil's graphic design work. 

What the book visually does, is divorce these people - several of whom are television celebrities in their own right - such as Qurram Hussain, Saad Haroon or Anoushey Ashraf - from their personas on TV. It strips apart the layers of make-up, fan adulation, typical sound bytes - and takes them down from a glorified pedestal and instantly relatable. As Qurram says in his section "'Celebrity' is a man-made term. It is nothing more than an illusion." With the result that by the time you've finished going through Raw Life, it feels like you've just had a cup of coffee and a heart-to-heart with all of these ten people.