The Khaki Parka, London

Another photo taken outside Topshop at Oxford Circus, London with the scouting help of Lauhren Jones.

About this look: Love the khaki parka look with denim shirt and striped top. Cool colour scheme with a grunge casual feel.

The Khaki Trend (boohoo.com)

Johnny Deep Lookalike?, London

Went to lovely capital, London last Wednesday for London College Communication open day and decided to shop at Oxford Circus before the open day. Thought I'd try out street style photography like the likes of The Sartorialist and Facehunter. Went with my awesome friend Lauhren Jones and we both scouted for fashionable people. I must admit, at first I was quite shy approaching people and saw tonnes of potential people to shoot but this 'Johnny Depp Lookalike' caught Lauhren's eye and we decided he be pretty cool to shoot. It was a good idea starting off with stationary people. especially standing outside the fashionable Topshop. After this guy I became more eased to ask random people to photograph on the street. :)

About this look:  I love his 'John Lennon/Johnny Depp' style sunglasses and brushed back hair. His oversized shirt reminds me of an artist overall which shows with his SLR camera in his hand; he must be creative too! :D Not a fan of the leggings but totally works for his look, and I really like his combat style boots (sorry you can't see them).

Self-Portrait Photography III > My Veil Shoot

Following on from 'Self-Portrait Photography I featuring Lara Jade' and 'Self-Portrait Photography II featuring Josefine Jönsson' where I'm researching artists and experimenting for my graphics project 'Who Am I?', I've decided to take some more conceptual self-portraits of my own. Self-portraits are one of the best ways to practice and get started in any photography involving people and portraiture. You are in control of you own expressions, angle, pose, lighting, so ultimately the photograph is all yours. Seeing Lara Jade's self-portraits from such an early age inspired me to get shooting and be creative with portraits. I believe creative self-portraits shouldn't be 'how pretty I can look' without any meaning to it, there should always be a story and self-portraits in particular, as you're conveying yourself through a photograph. I've been trying to 'shock' and show people that I'm not afraid to purposefully taking an ugly photograph of me if the concept is more important than outer beauty. I've posted some pretty dark photos on Facebook and DeviantArt and some of my friends have called me scary, freaky etc which is the reaction I want to get!

This shoot is the most explicit to date and with fashion magazines revealing bodies more and more and suggestive poses now; nudity is very much accepted as part of art especially in Europe.

Apparently this reminds my mother of 'The Way We Were' album cover by Barbra Streisand.

The theme for this shoot was to show a juxtaposition of two sides of me. Exploring sexuality & faith. I'm from an Islamic background however my close family don't practice Islam as my brother and mother are Atheist; me on the other hand, I'm finding my spirituality and believe there is God somewhere. I've currently decided to settle on calling myself a 'spiritual agnostic' however this is most likely to change as I explore further. 

The veil is in reference to Islam where women wear hijabs to cover themselves up; the meaning of hijab is modesty, privacy, and morality. Of course I wanted to contrast the meaning of a hijab with explicitly. I believe all women should have the right to feel sexy, regardless of religion, status, colour etc.I wanted to take these shots in black/white to create deep shadows and a more mysterious effect which wouldn't look as good in colour.

Inspiration for this shoot: 

Tiiu Kuik Photographed by Daemian Smith & Christine Suarez

Hakan Photography

Tracey Emin

Herring & Herring for Zink Mag

M.A.S.H

Photograph of the Day > Unfathomable Depths by Ibai Acevedo

I love this photograph by Ibai Acevedo. I love the blackness and navy colours and the white shining light behind her. The shadows and light works amazingly and I love the fact it's underwater photography which I admire even more. It's as if God is shining a light upon her, but that's just my interpretation. 

Source: http://iconolo.gy/archive/unfathomable-depths-ibai-acevedo/1566

Check out her Flickr Photostream / Blog

Check out more from this shoot.

Halloween Gig & Live Band Shots

So this past week has certainly been full of great highs and lows. I've been rather busy so haven't managed to post any entries for a week!

Last weekend went to a great Halloween party at the Bridgwater Arts Centre where I saw some really good local bands and everyone was dressed up in awesome Halloween outfits including the live bands. I'm still editing some live shots and photos I took at the after party but here's a few shots I've done. There's been a great reception from the bands and they really like my photographs which is great. So I've decided to try out different styles of photography and not just limit myself to fashion now that I've got my new Canon. I'm getting into live photography! :D

Check out my photography at Deviantart / Flickr / Facebook

Out For Tomorrow Live 1. Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/outfortomorrow, Vocalist: Ben Lumber

Cut Nancy Live 1: Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/cutnancy, vocals: Edd Butterworth, drums: James Holley, bass: Keith Mitchelhill

Cut Nancy Live 1: Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/cutnancy bassist: Keith Mitchelhill