My First Exhibition | Zafira
‘LOST IN TRADITON.’
Hey!
So a few days ago, I had my work exhibited for the very first time! As part of a group exhibition by me and my MA group, we showed off some work we did as part of an assignment last term under the theme ‘Collisions’.
I wasn’t planning on doing a blog post on this hence the non-blogger-last-minute-pictures but I thought it would be fun to explain more about the meaning and context behind my work and even a little bit about my working progress.
RESEARCH
A lot of research went into this. It’s the first time I’ve completely finished a photography project, well when I say finished I mean have at least 90% satisfaction with the final product.
It all started off with family pictures from the 70-90s. I spend so much time flicking through family albums, I knew I had to use them in my project in someway or other.
The photographs that stood out most were definitely the portraits, especially the ones taken in studios. It’s crazy how my family used to go to a studio and get these regal, professional shots taken of them against the most extravagant backgrounds. My favourite had to be this one of my dad’s aunt and uncle which you’ll see eventually inspired the entire colour scheme of my project.
I also found myself delving quite deeply into theoretical concepts in photography, it might have been because I was taking a critical studies class at the time but I have always loved reading about anthropological concepts.
The main concept I focused on was Edward Soja’s theory of photographic space and its relation to this idea of the ‘other’. I was looking at the impact of the colonial gaze as well as Edward Said’s take on orientalism. I recommend looking into all these concepts because they give you such an clear understanding on how the West impacted colonised people, their countries and even their way of life post-colonisation.
(the faces are blurred out for privacy reasons and it’s watermarked because it’s from my dad’s very extensive family archive)
TEST SHOOTS
So I did quite a few test shoots for this, you might have seen a few of this pictures over on my Instagram but it was so much fun dressing up and shooting myself in different styles.
Ultimately, I knew I wanted to portray a balance between my two cultures; my Western life here in the UK but then also my roots back in Bangladesh and then also tie back in orientalism and it’s impact on my generation of Bangladeshis.
In these photographs you can see one very ‘modern’ style of South Asian style but then the other is a very traditional look. I knew after shooting these 2 different sets, that for my final, I’d want to represent both somehow.
My set up started off with my mum’s old sarees, I love a good classic katan saree. They’ve always felt so decadent to me. I loved the creases and the folds and the way that mirrored the folds in the clothing I was wearing. I liked how these turned out but it didn’t feel exciting enough to me.
pre-final-set
These are my pre-final-set of images I guess you’d call them? Well those personally, gave me the ick towards myself as a photographer because of how hazy and foggy and messy they look but they were so pivotal in the creation of my final set so I had to include these in here. I was playing around with lens filters and different editing styles and it did not work out how I wanted to but at least now I had a clear image of what I wanted for my final set.
I wanted to go back to that family portrait and figure out how I could recreate the colours because that’s one thing that made me fall in love with it and the backdrop too. However. getting a backdrop anywhere close to the one in the original picture would have broke my bank account. I looked at other options too like printing a photograph of Bangladesh onto material and then using that but that too was just way out of my budget.
I was like okay, where can I get a large amount of fabric for cheap? And then it came to me, a bedsheet. I got this during the boxing day sales on Amazon for £7 and it’s amazing. It’s quite a matte material which was a gem not only photographing but even when it came to printing later on.
final project.
I ended refining my pre-final-set and made the quality much more clean and refined. I decided to focus on paan and the whole paan eating process as in a few of the pictures, you’ll see my skirt is actually printed in gold paan leaves. (my skirt is handmade!!!)
It fit into the whole “Lost in Tradition’ title because paan is something I eat a little too regularly after I’ve finished a meal. It’s a tradition I’ve carried on even though I’ve grown up around such a Western environment. I was playing around with the nut cracker in the pre-final set and it was pretty interesting having that contrast between the metal and the bright colours.
I shot this in my kitchen for optimal natural lighting in the 1 hour of bright light we get during the winter in the UK and it worked out so well. I found shooting slightly underexposed but with a medium or large raw file really malleable in my editing process. Yes, there was a some of noise because of this but it added some amazing texture and film like feel to the pictures.
If you press the ‘click here’ button on the image above, you can see all the photographs :)
Overall, I think I’m happy with how they turned out. The printing process was so cool too, I got my prints done at Come Through Lab in Ancoats and they did such a great job.
A big big thank you to everyone who came and saw my work whilst it was being exhibited. I don’t think I’ve ever truly felt like a real photographer until I saw other people looking at my work up on the walls.
Here’s me looking like a baby in front of my work.
I’ll be releasing some prints within the next week so keep an eye out over on Instagram if you want to get your hands on some!
Thanks for reading,
June & July on Film | Zafira
Hey everyone!
I’m back with one of my favourite types of posts to do one here … A monthly film dump!
It’s summer, and I couldn’t be happier. The sun’s out, I’m finally turning a nice golden shade of brown and most of all, I’ve reunited with my friends and family again for a summer of fun after nearly 2 years apart.
There was a lot going on these past 2 months but it’s been a joy getting back to some sort of normality.
Here’s my June & July on film!
REDOING MY BEDROOM
I graduated and turned 21 in June and July and my room needed a well overdue makeover. The last time it had been painted was when I was around 13 and being the avid clothes collector/hoarder I am, I just needed more practical clothing storage solutions.
As you can see, I decided to paint my room white. I’ll try and post a room tour or some pictures of my new room soon if that’s something you’d like to see?
I turned 21 in June which was more of a shock than excitement. I feel like I’m still 13 sometimes, I can’t believe how old I’m getting. Thank you to my favourite cousin Zahrah for my lovely birthday balloon! It’s surprisingly still floating a little over a month later.
Also how cute is my new rug from Wayfair?! I will definitely be taking more shoe pics on it very soon.
I posted a blue eyeshadow look over on my IG a few weeks ago because it’s been my go to look recently. Blue eyeshadow and brown eyes are the perfect combo and I feel so 60s anytime I put it on.
In the middle is a very blurry picture of a polaroid of me and my cousins when I saw them for the first time since the lockdown in March 2020 which was so crazy, I’ve missed my family so much and it’s the biggest blessing to be seeing everyone again.
A SHOOT WITH MARIA
I’ve started shooting again!
I did a shoot with my friend Maria in June with the cutest baby blue backdrop. I’m not as comfortable using backdrops as I used to be so it was more of a little experimental, play around kind of shoot which are my favourite kinds. Look how amazing she looks!
You can check out all the pictures from the shoot here:
Alpaca Farm
On the hottest day of the summer, me and my cousins ended up at Adventurous Alpacas in Rossendale Valley. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done even though I’m not the biggest animal fan and I was quite scared but these alpacas were adorable and not scary at all.
You get these little bags of food and you get to feed and stroke them (if they let you lol) and take some cute pics.
This is Alfonzo with the pretty blue eyes.
NJ looking like she belongs in the countryside.
It’s such a lovely family activity to do during the summer! We all had so much fun hanging out the alpacas.
That’s my film dump over! Let me know what your favourite pictures were and follow my socials for updates for some very very cool things happening in the next 2 weeks.
Thanks for reading,
The Last of Summer on Film | Zafira
Hey guys!
And just like that it’s autumn. I haven’t done one of these ‘On Film’ posts in forever because my life midst this whole Corona business has just not been worth shooting on film so I took a little bit of a break. But I’m back at uni, back to doing things that require leaving my house so I’ve started shooting again.
Here are a few shots from the end of summer and this September that I hope you’ll like. This roll had a light leak so a few of my shots look a bit glitchy but I kind of love how that looks.
This is my very beautiful friend Britt who I used to shoot on film all the time when we were at college together. But we barely have time to see each other these days because we’re so busy. We had a very cute day out to Heaton Park towards of the end of summer and hung out and it was just like old times.
Some more shots at Heaton Park. I hadn’t been there for years I forgot how lovely it is to walk around.
I can’t entirely remember when I took this but the sunset was something else this day. I love the way the sunlight reflects on the white walls in my parents room in the prettiest shade of orange.
These bags were incredibly popular this year and it’s so wild to me because as kid, I used to get one of these bags every time someone in our family would go to Bangladesh. So when I see brands like Shrimps selling these for hundreds of pounds, it kind of makes me feel a bit weird because it feels almost extortionate.
As much as I love Shrimps, I do have a few issues with someone of the things they sell but that’s a story for another day.
This bag along with a few others like it were kindly made for me in Bangladesh and I think they’re so pretty.
As you can tell, here is the point in my roll where a light leak formed. I actually really love when this happens and you get the orange/red colours at the top of your photographs. I wear this outfit pretty much every summer and I adore it.
A few shots from the city.
I think this was my first day properly back in the city since March so I really enjoyed just walking around and taking a few snaps of places I walk by everyday.
This canal shot is my favourite shot on this entire roll because usually, this little nook hiding the canal on Oxford Road looks quite grimy and gross but on this particular day, the sunlight was hitting the water so perfectly. It was so serene.
What would a roll be without a shot of this cat that isn’t ours? We’re no longer friends because I was quite viciously scratched a few weeks ago whilst trying to stroke it.
This is my friend Tarek looking the coolest in Piccadilly Gardens. (sorry for being half an hour late, i hope this makes up for it)
I took these when I was shooting my uni lookbook which you can check out here if you haven’t already. Some very cute fits.
I’m starting to get back into the swing of shooting often again so there’ll be more of these soon.
Thanks for reading!
I Went To London Fashion Week! (kind of) | Zafira
Hey!
So, if you’ve been keeping up with my Instagram this past week you will know that I went to London Fashion Week! Well, I didn’t exactly go. It was more of a stand outside the event spaces in the rain and hope some well dressed people go in and out so you can take some pretty pictures of their outfits kinda thing.
Even though I was stood in the rain for two days, the entire experience was so incredibly good. I loved seeing everyone all dressed up and the range of people that were there. It was definitely an experience that I’d remember forever.
I took a lot of photographs so feel free to have a little browse :)
Thanks for checking these out, I’ll be posting my film shots in my February on Film sometime in the next few days so make sure you follow me over on my socials to know when it’s up!
January on Film | Zafira
Hey!
January has lasted a good 3 years or that’s honestly what it’s felt like. It’s been a quiet month. I think like a lot of people, I’ve been trying to get my life back on track a little bit after almost a month off uni. I’m happy to be back into my usual schedule though and also happy to see what this year has to offer!
Here’s my January on film:
For the past few weeks, I’ve been adoring this little spot in my parents room. It’s on top of my mum’s dresser, a spot where she keeps a vintage jewellery box, her perfume, a mirror and a spinny bangle holder (not pictured). I think it might be the way it looks when the sun starts to set or the way an immense amount of light shines through no matter what the weather. It’s just very pretty.
Pictured here is an & Other Stories Perfume I got my mum for her birthday which I occasionally steal a spritz or two of and my favourite favourite & Other Stories lipstick that has most definitely been loved.
We spent Christmas and Boxing Day in London this year compared to our usual family shindig in Birmingham so we could visit some family. I took this somewhere in Whitechapel on Boxing Day. Honestly I think it’s kinda disgusting. There’s nothing I hate more than pigeons.
Here I am dressed like I’m cosplaying Shrek in this funky green silky dress from none other than Zara. I love this dress however, I hate wearing it because it creases instantly. I am also wearing some vibrant green eye shadow that you can barely see. I have my massive vintage coat from Headlock Vintage on too which everyone seems to hate but I am completely smitten with it. My personal tutor at university actually asked if I picked this coat of a skip which was very nice of him.
I was going to do this whole “only buy two things a month” thing but it’s now the end of January and once again, my wardrobe doors are incapable of closing without an aggressive shove.
These dreamy babies were a little bit of an impulsive buy from ASOS but my god are they beautiful. I love Mary Janes. They’re probably my all-time favourite style of shoe. These are plain black and velvet and pretty much match everything in my wardrobe.
As I said, this whole “only buy two things a month” thing did not go well whatsoever.
I’ve been quite in love with various shades of green for a while now which is strange because I used to hate the colour green. I think it’s incredibly flattering on brown-ier skin tones.
This blazer style corduroy jacket is from TK Maxx but is from a brand called Y.A.S that I know nothing about other than they are expensive are sold on ASOS. This jacket was originally £80 however because TK Maxx is a literal heaven on earth, this jacket only cost me £14.99. Bargain of the year.
Considering I’ve lived in Manchester my entire life, I don’t think I’ve ever been to the Whitworth Gallery.
It’s an incredibly pretty building, not only from the outside but the inside too. It’s so open and bright and I think this might be my new favourite place in Manchester. They’ve also got the most aesthetically pleasing cafe that’s lined with tall window after tall window (there’s a little snippet of it on the smaller pic).
I don’t even know where to begin with these cheeky babies. They both came over a few days ago and were causing chaos left, right and centre. They gave each other makeovers with some pretty pink lipstick, made me draw everyone and everything ever possible, ate of course (their fave activity) and both took turns drinking from my water bottle/cup in this picture.
Thanks for reading!
It’s been wild watching these two grow up the past 2 years.
Lots of love,
October on Film | Zafira
Hi!
It’s been a wild month. I’ve finally settled into uni after 4 months off. I’ve realised that I don’t really talk about uni a whole lot on here but that’s mainly because I have the biggest love/hate relationship with it (by this i mean i cry not to go but i still go in everyday). Brexit has been postponed. Zac Posen has closed his beautiful fashion label. Harry Styles released a new song. CO2 levels probably rose a bit. Like I said, it’s been a wild month.
But as always, I tried to capture this month as best as I could so here is my October on Film!
We start October off with this beauty of a dress.
Me and my cousins had a lovely day out towards the end of September and one them kindly bought me this dress from Zara and obviously, I had to wear it to Uni the next day. I love dresses in this style and cut because they are such classic pieces to have and super easy to style. This dress is also the comfiest thing ever. I spent the day running around Manchester and uni in it and it didn’t get in the way at all.
Can we also talk about how great I look in this photograph? Not to like toot my own horn or be a complete and utter narcissist but I love this picture of myself. Thank you Victoria!
Since these photographs were taken I have also accidentally accumulated this dress in black too.
On every roll there’s always an odd shot of my room. Here is my dad’s boutonniere from my cousin’s wedding over a year ago that I haven’t had the heart to throw away yet.
Here’s Vicky applying lip gloss after our little brunch date.
I’ve weirdly been spending a lot of time in Harvey Nichols recently because I love walking around and looking at things I can’t afford. This is a shot from either the second or third floor.
I was walking back to uni one day and ended up walking past a massive protest on Oxford Road. This was about what’s happening with Turkey and Rojava and to raise awareness. I can’t say I’m too educated or read enough on the topic to fully explain to you what’s happening but there’s a page over on the Independent that cover a lot to do with it. You can check that out here.
I feel it all it looks like I’ve done this month is go for brunch. I promise you I’ve done a lot more. This is my cousin Zahrah on our brunch date at Evelyn’s where we spent so long taking pictures of our food that it went cold.
There’s also always a shot of me drinking something on every roll now too. I’m actually wearing the black version of my blue dress here but you can’t see it very well.
I bought this Ralph Lauren tweed blazer at the Thrift Shop in Manchester for £12 and not only did I buy this for an absolute bargain but I met Oli Sykes too from Bring Me the Horizon! I have nothing but a badly taken picture on my phone to show for that but it was truly a great day. The 13 year old in me was filled with pure joy.
This is Jack being a hardworking student and also looking very grumpy because he wasn’t too happy about having his photograph taken.
We had a wedding in the family (again) so the end of this month was spent getting dressed up and hopping from wedding event to wedding event.
I took this because we were at a wedding at the exact same time last year at the exact same place and saw this exact same cat. You can’t see the cat very well but it’s been strolling around the British Muslim Heritage Centre for a year now. Maybe even longer who knows.
I love autumn so much.
It’s your favourite child bride! I really have to stop making that joke now that I’m no longer a child. But here I am all dressed up on a freezing cold autumn day.
Here’s my cousin Zahrah again looking pretty.
Daylight savings happened this month too which contrary to popular opinion, I actually really love. I like it when it gets dark earlier. How beautiful is the sun setting behind the marquee?
September on Film | Zafira
Hey!
After an abundance of requests asking for my monthly film blog posts, I’ve decided to bring back what seems like everybody’s favourite series over on here. The roll I shot on this month has actually been in my camera since the end of July/beginning of August and it might just be the longest I’ve ever had a film roll in my camera.
This summer was a little chaotic to say the least and shooting on film felt like a massive inconvenience. I was shooting frequently on digital so to carry around my DSLR, the lenses for that and then my film camera with all it’s accessories would have been quite the struggle. It’s a shame because there were so many moments this summer that could have been beautifully captured on film. I’m hoping to get a little film camera soon, something like Contax T3 (maybe something a little cheaper jesus i had no idea that these were that expensive) so I can take it everywhere hassle free.
I don’t know how this month is already over, I don’t remember feeling like it ever began. It’s been just as busy as this summer with me starting my second year of uni. I actually love September, it’s so lovely seeing everything transition into autumn and there’s just something about Manchester during this time of year that I completely adore.
Here a few snaps from late July, August and of course, September.
I think I took this in August when I was walking through Piccadilly Gardens to probably go shop or something but I ended up bumping into this huge marching band. It was pretty cool and very random but I love their hats.
This roll has more photographs of me than I’m used to but here’s a shot of me in the COW changing rooms because they’re so cute. I can’t remember if I bought anything from there but this is a very rare shot of me in a printed white t-shirt.
My mum hates all animals, especially this little daredevil of a cat. This is our neighbour’s cat that might as well belong to us. If you’ve followed these monthly film posts for a while, she’s made quite a few appearances and loves her time in-front the camera. What a pretty girl.
Moose Coffee looking pretty in the sunlight.
I picked up this amazing jumper this month at Thrift Shop Manchester for £7 and I can’t stop wearing it. It’s super 80/90s style and it’s one of my favourite things in my wardrobe at the minute. I also got these lovely Chanel button looking earrings from my friend Vicky as a late birthday present which was very sweet of her and my clip is from Primark!
Also how insane is it that this time last year, I had a bob and now my hair is sooo long? I think this the longest I’ve had it in a while, I usually get it cut into a bob every summer but this year I thought I’d let it grow out and go wild.
I finally updated my photo walls in my room with some newer shots. I also upgraded to 5x7 prints too and I loove how they look. I love being surrounded with photographs of my family and friends and most importantly, shots of me.
When I say I’ve lived in my boiler suit this summer, I’m not even exaggerating. It was my go to outfit and was so easy to wear and style. Anytime I’d leave the house to run some errands or even to come into the city, I’d throw this on with a pair of boots or my Vans. This is the best £35 I’ve ever spent. Here I am in TK Maxx in my 5 hour quest to find some jeans that actually fit me (no luck unfortunately but I got a cute pair from Topshop).
I remember when I first started shooting on film, I’d always take these mirror pictures cos I thought they were so cool. I still love them so they’re slowly making a comeback.
I had lunch at Mackie Mayor a week or so ago and it’s one of the coolest places to eat in Manchester. Maybe one day I’ll have to do a post about my favourite places to eat in Manchester because there’s sooo many. Mackie Mayor is filled with different food stalls so there’s so much to pick from. From pizza to tacos to all sorts. It’s the perfect place to eat if you’re with a lot of people because they have such a good range of food to pick from so there’s something for everyone.
Here are a few of my favourite things this month:
Pearl Clips - Primark
Burt’s Bees Lip Balm in Pomegranate (hands down best lip balm ever made by anyone)
Hugo Boss Watch
The Ordinary - Alpha Arbutin Serum (so so so good for dark spots)
All necklaces are from Lovisa
Bangle - from some little cheap stall on Green Street in London
NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Rome (i’ve been wearing this everyday since i was 16 it’s my favourite lipstick of all time)
Gold Hoops - & Other Stories (i also wear these almost everyday)
Her'e’s me and my friend Divine in our matching outfits for our first day back at uni! (you don’t even need to ask both of these shirts are obviously from Zara)
When I was around 8/9 years old, I had a dress so similar to this. Me and my cousin Zahrah would wear matching outfits and we both had this dress so when I saw this in Oliver Bonas the other day it immediately took me back to our childhood. Over this dress, I’m wearing a puffy sleeved shirt from Zara that I’ve tied at the front and my new Converse.
Can you believe this dress was on sale for £20 down from £68? I love a good bargain.
That’s all I have for this month! I’ll try and make this into a regular thing since it’s in high demand. To see more of my film pics and photographs in general, follow me over on my Instagram and other social medias (everything is linked at the bottom of each post!)
Thanks for reading!
Lots of love,
The Best Accounts on Instagram This Week | #1 | Zafira
Hi!
I guess this is my first actual content worthy post on my new site which is so exciting (for me anyway). Today I thought I’d do something I used to do a lot over on my Instagram Stories a lot a few months ago which was a weekly round up of my favourite accounts on Instagram that week. I love doing it because I think it’s great sharing accounts with people that deserve their work to be shared and it’s nice to support your fellow artists out there.
If you want me to make this a weekly thing then let me know, I’d be more than happy to!
These are my favourite accounts on Instagram this week:
Mahoor Jamal (@mahoorjamal &@mahoor_jamal)
One thing I’ve being loving seeing recently on Instagram is the way that artists incorporate culture into their work and Mahoor Jamal captures this perfectly. Coming from a South Asian background, you can see so vividly how this plays a massive part in her work but also how modern culture and trends also play a part.
There’s something so dreamy about the tones she uses in her photographs. Especially her recent work for Generation PK, they look like the South Asian equivalent of a Renaissance painting. So beautiful.
She also has a graphics/illustration account which is equally as good as her photography one!
2. @305ibes
I can’t believe it took me so long to come across this account especially considering that they’re Manchester based (just like me!) 305ibes is a curation kinda account but completely different than any other curation style account I’ve seen on Instagram or anything before. They merge two of my favourite things in the world, music and film photography. They post little slideshow type of videos featuring work by film photographers with amazing music playing in the background.
It’s so mellow and relaxing to watch. They pick the best work from film photographers all around and play the best music too. This has easily become one of my favourite Instagram accounts of all time. It’s also ran by one of my favourite photographers Matthew Tou! I’ve followed him for forever and his work is amazing, you can check out his account here.
I’m super excited to see this account grow and find more talented photographers through it!
3. Nicolas “Yuthanan” Chalmeau (@yuthanan__)
It’s so hard to find unique OOTD style pictures on Instagram in this overfilled wannabe fashion blogger world but when I found Nicolas’ account, I fell in love with every aspect of his outfit pictures. The colours, the tones, the clothes itself and most importantly, the sense of coolness he released. He may just be the most coolest person I follow.
Not only is his feed filled with aesthetically pleasing outfit pictures, but aesthetic pictures of everything and anything. There’s some pretty street shots and some pictures of items from Sillage which is a men’s clothing brand where Nicolas is a designer and director.
If you’re all about the visuals, aesthetics & fashion then this account is made for you! I know I a d o r e it.
4. Marc Hibbert (@marc_hibbert)
A few weeks ago, one of my favourite people on Instagram (@znali) posted this picture on his account that was featured on Document Journal’s Instagram and I loved everything about it. It was taken by Marc Hibbert who did a entire series in India documenting people’s relationship with the Ganges. There’s more about it over on Document Journal if you’re interested, it’s a very good read.
I’ve always loved documentary style photography and this entire set is so beautiful than anything I’ve seen on Instagram recently. They’re captured so well and have the most stunning tones.
Marc also has some cool fashion/portrait shots as well some other interesting stuff on his feed, you should definitely go check him out.
If you have any accounts you wanna share or think I should feature in my next post like this then let me know!
Thanks for reading!
Lots of love,
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UPDATED:
October (and a bit of November) on Film | Zafira
Hi!
I'm back with my film series! This is probably my favourite thing to post on here just because I love looking back at everything I've done at the end of each month.
October was a bit of a weird one, I feel like it was so eventful but I only remember picking up my camera a handful of times. I was feeling a bit meh towards my photography work recently so this roll of film was a bit of a struggle to get through. It ended up being in my camera for over a month which is completely unlike me. Anyway, I had a good mope about it and now I feel a lot better. I'm also looking forward to doing so many new projects very very very soon! I switched up my film this month so if things are looking slightly different than usual then it's because I used the famous Kodak Porta 400 which I bought for waaay too much.
(also how weird is it that in literally 2 months, it will 2019. wtf.)
I started off October with a shoot with my favourite model Hannah. I stupidly started a new roll right towards the end of our shoot so I had to wait until I had filled up my roll which like I mentioned earlier, took forever.
Since I not only live in Manchester but go to uni here too, it's impossible for me not to snap a pic here and there of the pretty city scenes it has to offer. It's so amazing seeing it how it changes through the seasons.
This is my friend Vicky. We had a bit of a flashback Mary moment but it's okay, she's still cute.
My outfit was inspired by Rachel Berry from Glee lol.
Sorry for taking bad pics of you Vicky.
I walk past this everyday and I've never realised how beautiful it is, especially in autumn.
I'm trying so much more to photograph strangers because despite being told to stay away and never speak to them, they're actually quite interesting people.
This is Manny, he's my favourite barista at Krispy Kreme where I go twice a day to over caffienate myself.
And what would my monthly film series be without these losers? I'm looking a bit rough in this I had the worst cough and cold ever.
This was taken at Leaf when I went out for lunch with my friend Matt.
This is Matt in an overpriced white t-shirt.
I look so grown up in these I do
not
like it whatsoever.
This is Rianna who's always disappointed in me.
Thanks for reading!
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UPDATED:
Exploring London: Old Spitalfields Market, Kensington Gardens & Kyoto Gardens | Zafira
Hi!
A few blog posts ago, I did a post all about the National Gallery & Tate Britain as a part of my 'Exploring London' series that have been reoccurring over on here for the past 3 years. I spend the majority of my holidays in London as it is the perfect the place to explore and photograph. Throughout the years I find myself falling more and more in love with it. In today's post, I'll be talking all about Old Spitalfields Market, Kensington Gardens & Holland Park. These are three of the most beautiful and amazing places I visited whilst I was in London.
We begin this post with one of the best markets I've ever been to. If you're quite into that whole hipster-y sort of thing then this is defo the place for you. It consists of a massive range of stalls fluctuating from food, clothes and all the way to home ware. It's perfect place for lunch and just somewhere to kill a few hours.
There's a bunch of designer shops around it too so if that's your sort of thing then Old Spitalfields Market is definitely for you!
There's so many cute places to eat.
The next place I visited was Kensington Gardens. This place wasn't really on my list but since a bunch of my younger cousins came with me, I thought it would nice for them to go somewhere where they can just run and play around. I'm so so so glad me and family came here because it is literally the most perfect place to take portraits. I ended up taking so many family pictures which were the cutest but unfortunately I can't show them since I'd like to respect my family's privacy. I ended up getting some photographs of myself and funnily enough some animals? You'll see further down lol.
It was so weird even seeing this Grey Heron. I felt as if I was in the middle of nowhere shooting for Nat Geo.
This is my favourite shot!
I came to Holland Park with intention of visiting Kyoto Gardens which is inside of it. Most of these photographs are taken in Kyoto Gardens which is so beautiful. It's filled with so much culture and is the perfect place to get some concentrated and highly saturated shots since it's filled to the brim with the most vibrant colours. However, the only downside to Kyoto Gardens was that it was so small. From what people had said to me and reading the reviews on Google, I thought it would be quite big. When I got there, I was slightly disappointed by the size but this was out weighed by the beauty of it.
I recommend that if you want to go see Kyoto Gardens then you should definitely spend a couple of hours walking around Holland Park and see everything it has to offer since it is extremely pretty.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention the peacocks. They really add to the 'je ne sais quoi' of the place.
My hair was doing that whole 'Mulan' thing and I was not happy about it when it came to editing.
The rest of the photographs are from around Holland Park.
There's so many pretty flowers around Holland Park. This would also be an amazing place to take some portraits or family pics.
I'll be posting these photographs plus a lot more over on my Instagram!
Lots of love,
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UPDATED:
Exploring London: National Gallery & Tate Britain | Zafira
Hi!
So I'm sort of back and settled into somewhat of a routine after what feels like the most eventful summer of my life which means it's time to show some pretty pics I took whilst I was out and about!
If you follow me over on my Instagram or even if you read my previous blog post, you would know I spent quite a lengthy time in London. Although my exploration days were quite limited due to having a lot of family to visit, I still made the most it and got to see nearly everything on my list.
We begin my little adventure over at the National Gallery and it was such a beautiful place to begin. I love art. I always have but unfortunately my skills within the artistic field aren't quite on Monet's level. Anyway, the National Gallery is the perfect place for an art-lover like myself and it's so stunning to walk around and spend hours admiring the paintings on the wall.
I love galleries and museums that have that sort of elegant, Palace of Versailles kind of vibe it's makes me fall in love with place instantly. The Victoria and Albert Museum (also in London) has the best 'Palace of Versailles' kind of interior and it's my all time fave place.
This pink-ish coloured dress reminds me so much of the latest Collina Strada collection.
I've always wanted something like this painted on my ceiling.
This painting stood out to me so much because my family village in Bangladesh looks the spitting image of this. It's so weird, especially because this painting is of somewhere in America in late 1800s.
She just looks like she's living her best in life in some sort of Dolce & Gabbana gown. This is exactly what I want to be doing in about 10 years.
Absolutely beautiful.
This is just outside the National Gallery.
I then headed off the Tate Britain which was just as wonderful as the National Gallery. I was in awe of the place as once again, it had that 'Palace of Versailles' kind of vibe but it also had a strange modern and minimalistic twist. It was weirdly cool. I guess it's quite hard to explain but once you look through my photographs you'll understand. As soon as you walk in you're hit with a bright, white, minimal environment but as you start walking through the place it transforms into an old and elegant place.
The most creepiest painting I've ever seen. I was immediately drawn in by this. Maybe it was the way they had lit the painting but it's so so so nightmarish. I think I had a good look at for about 2 minutes and decided to swiftly move away because I know I'd have some sort of unpleasant nightmare about it.
This is one of favourite paintings ever! I can't remember where I saw this first but I've been in love with it for years. This is 'Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose' by John Singer-Sargent. It's beautiful. I even bought it in tote bag form.
I wish I had enough patience and skill to sit and draw in a museum or gallery.
I think I was in year 7 and we'd have these English lessons every other week or so which were so chill and we'd read poetry and just talk about stuff and I remember so vividly reading the poem behind this painting. This is 'The Lady of Shalott' and the poem is bit miserable but still quite good. I used to try and draw and painting this painting so much when I was younger.
Also some of the frames around these paintings are just as stunning as the paintings themselves.
If you're wondering whether I took these on film or not then the answer is no. Preparing for uni has made my bank account a bit non existent alongside living the city life in London so shooting on film wasn't really something I could do. I took one roll of my usual Fujifilm Superia 200 and used that one 36 shot roll for the entire trip. I'll post those in a few weeks but these are all digital photographs that I've edited to make it look like they were shot on film.
I'll be posting these photographs plus a lot more over on my Instagram!
Lots of love,
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UPDATED:
Blackpool | Zafira
Hi!
Since everyone enjoyed my Wales video so much, I thought I'd make another one with some random clips I had lying around. About a month or so ago, me and a couple of my family members headed over to Blackpool to just relax and watch the sunset. I think if you live especially in Manchester, you have this very vivid image of Blackpool because as soon as it gets a tiny bit hot, you know you would probably be going there to spend the day since it's pretty close by. When I was younger, Blackpool seemed like the coolest place ever but in more recent days, it's become a somewhat overrated and downhill place to be.
When I went to film this video, the beauty that Blackpool once had offered to me as a young child didn't appear to me straight away but something happened at sunset I was hit with all these amazing and very surprising sunlit surroundings and found that it was the perfect opportunity to film some bits.
I used the song 'The End of Love' by Florence and the Machine because it was on one of Spotify discover playlists and I'm not quite sure why but it reminded me a lot of being at the beach. I feel like it's pretty in-tune with the montage.
I hope you enjoyed it!
Lots of love,
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UPDATED:
Wales Video FAQ | Zafira
Hi!
So if you've been following me on my social media, you'd know that a few weeks ago I made and posted a little video montage of my weekend away to Wales and ever since I've had so many questions about it so I thought I'd answer them all on here.
I've seen quite a few videos in the film and 'Super 8' style and I completely adore them. I love the grain and nostalgia feeling behind them. I wanted to replicate that with my montage of Wales because this was the very first time my entire family had gone away together and it was one of those things I know we'll look back at for the rest of our lives. It was most definitely a trip to remember. I wanted it to have that sort of home video-y feel to it but also still be something very visually appealing. I used the song 'Fear of the Water' by Syml because if you know me very well then you'd know I have this weird relation with water. I can't swim so large amounts of water are a big no no but I adore the sea and the ocean and everything that comes with it. I was listening to it on the way to Wales and it's what really spurted the idea of this video.
Okay so the most asked question is how did I get it looking like I shot on film or on a Super 8 camera? A lot of people have also asked what camera I used but my secret really is Adobe Premiere. I am a student so even affording something like Super 8 camera is ridiculous without even thinking about getting the film developed which is another huge dip in the bank so using Adobe Premiere and achieving something that looks pretty authentic was amazing. I just started off my filming with my DSLR and then imported it into Premiere, cropped it into a square shape, added a dash of grain, lowered the contrast, increased the saturation and added the film reel sound and I was good to go. You can even get away with filming with your phone and anything really, the quality of the video isn't really as important because when the overlays and grain and stuff are added on top, the overall quality lowers.
I used two videos I found on YouTube to overlay and help create a perfect and central square shape and to add effects and here they are:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZM9bcUYonY
This first one helped to create those orangey/pink hues that appeared spontaneously which is common when using film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1rCxzJnmiM
And then the second one is what I used to get the square shape. I wasn't sure on how to get the rounded corners so that's why I stuck with the square. I didn't really like the effects on this so I used as a stencil and guide of where to place each clip and then ended up only keeping the audio from this.
I watched quite a few YouTube tutorials to help which were really handy but when it comes to doing the little things like altering colours and such it's pretty much up to your personal preferance. I added a slight yellow tint to emphasize that nostalgic feel and then a handwritten title and subtitle. I got a lot of questions about that too, some people thought it was a font but it's just my crappy handwriting lol. I used a graphics tablet which is actually my little brothers but it's become very handy for me so we'll just say it's mine. I used Photoshop and started off with a black landscape A4 sized document and wrote in yellow. I used a black background because when you usually insert titles in Premiere the background is always black anyway.
Here's the most helpful YouTube tutorial that I found:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrmmJK9QwPo
The last thing I had a loooot of questions about was where this was filmed and as you can probably tell from the title, it was filmed in Wales but more specifically in the small town on Pemaenmawr alongside Llandudno and Snowdonia. They are amazing places to photograph (click here to check out my 'Wales on Film' post) and film because it feels so calm and serene. It's so beautiful to be out in nature and be surrounded by beaches and hills and mountains which is something I tried to capture in my video.
I plan to do a lot more of these because I adore making them, it's so much fun to film and make so make sure you follow my social media to find out when and where I release my next video!
Lots of love,
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UPDATED:
Wales on Film | Zafira
Hey!
So if you've read my last blog post (
click here to read if you haven't already
) or have been keeping up to date over on my Instagram, you would know that I spent the most magical and absolutely beautiful weekend away in Wales. It was just what I needed after the stress of exams and college.
We begin our extended weekend away in the small but pretty town of Penmaemawr. If you're thinking what in the world, how do you even pronounce that? Well after a lot of practice and help from this website, I can finally enunciate it like a proper Welsh gal. My family is pretty big, there were about 40/45 of us on this trip which is a loooot of people but this is what made it so so so good. We stayed at this place called Mountain View which is sort of like an Airbnb kind of place. It was just like this huge house with 20+ rooms and it was the coolest. It was based in this cute and quaint town which was most definitely the most picturesque place I've ever been.
What station house looks this pretty in 2018?!
To further emphasise the beauty Penmaemawr had already blessed us with, there was a beach literally down the road from where we were staying. I love love love love love beaches. On extremely sunny and warm days, it almost felt as if we weren't in the UK. It was so calm and is completely different than beaches near Manchester such as Blackpool. It's just stunning. I think we ended up at the beach pretty much everyday.
The next place I explored whilst at Wales was Llandudno. I'm not exactly sure which bits of it we went to but we visited the famous pier and some hilly areas too which were absolutely captivating. It's so weird how you can go from the hilly areas that are completely isolated to areas such as the pier which is filled to the brim with people.
The last place I went to was just as encapsulating as the other two. I was so blown away by how stunning Wales is I can see myself going down there for so many years to come. I had no idea it was as alluring as it was. It took my breath away. It's so strange to go from a busy city like Manchester to somewhere like Penmaemawr and feel such a stark contrast in the way people live. It's even stranger that this is literally 2ish hours away from Manchester and it's so different. Anyway, Snowdonia was the last place we went to. We actually went on my birthday which was the 24th of June and I loved it. It's crazy how amazing the weather was when we went too. The sun was shining, the water and sky were as blue as ever and mountains were this amazing luscious green.
And lastly, here's a shot on me looking too happy on my 18th birthday which was the best birthday I've ever had.
Thank you to my family for making this the best holiday ever! You can see some more shots over on my Instagram 😊
Lots of love,
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UPDATED:
Instagram:
https://instagram.com/thezafiraedit
Photography Tumblr:
Personal Tumblr:
Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/zafiraahmed/
:
https://twitter.com/thezafiraedit
Youtube:
London on Film | Zafira
Hi!
If you read my previous post, you'd know that I spent a week in London and it was so great. It was nice to have a week away from the chaos and craziness of college life and just take time to spend with my family. I didn't really get to out and explore as the main reason we were there was for wedding shopping but I managed to sneak away for a day and these are the film photographs that I took, enjoy!
I like to organise my photographs into categories when doing these posts but these two don't really fit into any because I took them on a different day.
Like I said earlier, the whole purpose of our family London trip was to shop and shop we did. We bought so much stuff and it was such a long process but most of the shopping is done and I can't wait for the wedding.
I can't remember where I took this but the sunlight is what really caught my eye, it just created such a calm and serene environment in a busy city like London.
The Tate Modern is quite a peculiar place but I love it nonetheless. It's definitely for the more artsy fartsy people but it's still such a cool place to walk around.
The two photographs above were actually taken in a pitch black room. In order to see the work on the walls you had to use flash which is usually not allowed. It was such a beautiful and moving collection of photographs.
Covent Garden is one of those days you'd go when it's sunny and warm. Thankfully, the day I went, the weather was so good even though the Beast from the East 3 had hit a couple of days before.
There's so many pretty flowers in Covent Garden and if the Sun decides to be your friend you can get some super cute shots.
The British Museum is just built in the most beautiful way possible. The outside looks quite historic and old but on the inside, it has the most stunning minimal yet breath taking interior. It's all white and when the sun shines through, it just creates such an amazing atmosphere.
I was running pretty low on film so I didn't get to get as many shots I initially wanted to but I completely adore these Greek sculptures.
I'll be posting these photographs plus a lot more over on my Instagram!
Lots of love,
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UPDATED: