Hair To Stay

For this project I partnered with Harmeet Rehal, a very close friend and constant collaborator. Harmeet or Meet, describes themselves as a “non-binary queer POC who wear bright clothing”. The focus of this shoot was to express self-love for one’s body with emphasis on hair. Meet explains their outlook below:

"I have addressed this before that people always ask why I don't shave my legs, and it's just cause I feel comfortable/beautiful like this. The reality is the only thing I have in this world to truly call mine is my body and I can't let my temple be policed. I don't have to do shit for the validation from others. Fuck what people say, shave, don't shave, wear what you wanna wear and love who wanna love. Simply be unapologetically yourself."

"This photo + art work creates representation for myself. It also challenges my fluidity through gender and sexuality. But more importantly it challenges you and the perception you have of who I am and what my experience through the South Asian diaspora is." - Harmeet

#NoMuslimBanTO

With The National Days of Action against Islamophobia and White Supremacy

This protest, which took place outside the U.S. Consulate here in Toronto, was against the Trump Presidency and Canada's subsequent inactions. The protests were and continue to bring light to the dark destructive nature of Trump’s actions and the ongoing racist and sexist policies. At the forefront are Islamophobia, Indigenous rights, anti-Black and anti-refugee issues (just to name a few). These protests have garnered global participation; cities and communities all around the world have joined together to speak out.

These are issues that hold great importance to me and I wanted to do my part to show my support. I decided to shoot the protest and see what types of challenges I would come across.

There were so many positive vibes as people of all kinds came to show their support. Of course there were people there with conflicting ideals which created tension and unrest in parts of the protest. 

It's tough to try and capture the whole thing by yourself. I'm sure I missed a lot of great moments, but I did capture some myself. Being in the right place at the right time is important, but with a protest of this magnitude, it wasn't hard to find great subjects. #NoMuslimBanTO.