Pakistan’s prominent singer Momina Mustehsan has been under scrutiny after posting pictures of herself during her battle with depression.
The Coke Studio sensation had taken to Instagram to post a letter to the late model Anam Tanoli earlier this week. Along with the poignant caption were a series of pictures of the artist herself during what she terms were her ‘times of turmoil.’
However, soon after her post opposing bullying, the musician herself also became a target of hate for the photos that appeared to be too professional making her ‘look pretty while battling depression.’
Stylist Anaum Hammad had been one of the critics saying: “Depression does not look professionally clicked with this pretty, sad girl aesthetic. I’ve been through severe depression where all I could do for nine months was sleep. I was mentally and emotionally exhausted, and that’s how my body and brain reacted.”
She went on to state: “To have an individual misrepresent depression this way is insulting to me. I feel sick to my stomach and angry. Misrepresentation of mental illness and the disability to truly understand it is a huge part of the problem. How can you take this responsibility so lightly?”
On the other hand, famed fashion photographer Muzi Sufi had also jumped on the bandwagon terming Momina’s photos as ‘insensitive’.
Responding to the backlash, the Afreen singer stated: “If someone is brave enough to let someone photograph their broken self in a time of extreme turmoil, she should be encouraged and given strength, instead of being judged and described as a ‘pretty, sad aesthetic girl’.”
Momina went on further to clear the air saying: “Everyone is ever willing to be photographed looking happy and pretty but I think there are hardly any who are okay showing their real face, especially in crisis.”
“My photographers had already reached and I told them I wasn’t emotionally well. If they wanted to take pictures of me, I only wanted to be real and let them capture what I was really going through. I was sick of faking a smile,” she revealed further.