Class of 2020: digital distancing project opens up a whole new world

She said: “The original idea of capturing candid reactions from people in a studio space was just not achievable when we all went into lockdown in March.

“My project is based around the idea that people are beautiful – no matter what their race, colour, sexuality, religion, cultural background and I wanted my project to focus on diversity, inclusivity and self-love.  I was surprised at the response I got from Social Media because I couldn’t tell people what the call was going to entail without ruining the element of surprise. People came onto the call blindly, just with the intention of being helpful and kind. I wanted to surprise them live on camera and capture their reactions to being told they were beautiful.

“It worked really well and has become much bigger than I had ever imagined.

“In a way, lockdown really helped me expand my creativity and suddenly the possibilities weren’t confined to a studio, they were endless and the project became an active, interactive programme rather than a selection of static images.  It was a unique experience and the support from my lecturers was amazing.

“I feel so proud to be graduating with a First Class Honours degree in Photography.  I’ve overcome lots of challenges including my mental health issues; depression, anxiety and PTSD due to my childhood abuse and I explored this in my work which was very dark when I started at University. I then wanted to turn that around and start to focus on positives which was what my project was all about.

“I am determined that, through my work, I will continue to shed light on topics that the South Asian community, in particular people from my Pakistani ethnic background, find difficult to talk about and face. There is very little information about mental health issues or sexual abuse in the community and I want to do better for the next generation, I want to share my experiences through my creativity and break down the stereotypes.

“My family would have preferred me to pursue a career based in science but I think I’ve shown them that you can be successful and still achieve if you pursue an artistic ambition. Positive representation is very important. I’m really proud to be have studied at the University of Wolverhampton, teachers are a big part of the experience and mine have been crazy incredible!”