Anna Molka Bridger was born in August 1917, in London. She was determined to become an artist from a young age and enrolled at the Royal College of Art in London. There she met her husband, Sheikh Ahmed, moving with him to Lahore.

In the late 1930s, she responded to an advert from the University of the Punjab seeking an artist to open a women's art department at the school. In 1940, she became the first head of the university’s Fine Arts Department, and over more than thirty years, she was instrumental in fostering a culture of arts education in Pakistan, expressing immense influence on young artists, mainly women.

She organized the first art exhibitions ever held in the country, and many of her students went on to establish their own university arts programs throughout Pakistan. Meanwhile, Ahmed never stopped painting, her expressionist work often combining European influences with inspiration from her adopted home country.
In 1963, in honour of her pioneering achievements, Ahmed was awarded the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Medal of Excellence) one of the highest awards for a citizen in Pakistan.

This painting shows the harsh realities of life on the streets in Lahore. Four figures in various states fill the composition, casting shadows onto the bare ground and brick wall behind them.