The Scarborough Youth PhotoVoices
Photo Exhibit
A Cultural Hotspot SPARK project in partnership with the City of Toronto
September 29 - October 1
Morningside Library
4279 Lawrence Avenue East
Artist Statements
Anubha Tasheem
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Azaan Cheema
This photo I’ve titled, “There’s No Place Like Home” depicts a teenage girl, exploring the forest all alone while discovering new things in it. This shot is a long shot view as there is a lot of nature visible, and the girl is standing far away from the photographer. This photo represents the community and how people are attached to the environment surrounding them. It shows a lot of greenery, light, and plants. In my opinion, a forest is a community. When I took this photo, I came to realize the girl bonds with the forest and everything throughout it, such as plants, rivers, trees, and houses. I was striving to incorporate all of the elements of art in my photo, and I have achieved that since I can see color, value, texture, shapes, lines, and space. My photo delights me because I learned many different photography tricks, such as different angles, and types of shots, and it helped me to explore more techniques to become a better artist.
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Iman Cheema
These set of photos titled, “Wandering” were taken at sunset just after the golden hour. The pictures are candid shots of a girl wandering in the streets of our neighbourhood. There is greenery and nature in the background which shows that we live in a healthy community. The pictures are raw, as they are not edited and taken with just a camera. In one of the shots, the girl is turning back and in the other shot she is walking down the road. The framing of one of the photos follows the rule of third whereas for the other picture, the subject matter is centred. There are also many leading lines using the road and the girl is in one of the leading lines. One photo is focused on the colour because the girl is looking at the sky, which is pink. These photos represent our community, it is very clean, there are a lot of houses and beautiful coloured skies. The girl is wandering the peaceful streets and enjoying the fresh air. This is shown from her facial expression in one of the photos when she turns around, the girl looks calm. I wanted to express the beauty in our neighbourhood because I enjoy being outdoors. I enjoy looking at the nature surrounded by me because there is diversity, wildlife and colourful flowers which keeps me calm. My goal for the photos was to incorporate multiple elements in these set of photos to create a stronger meaning. I was able to do this in my photos because I had elements like colour, line and form. I want to continue to improve as a photographer by showing stronger feelings in my photos through facial expressions and the various elements of photography.
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Isha Cheema
This photo I’ve titled, “On Top of The World” is a candid shot of a teenage girl on a slide at a playground. It was taken during sunset or “golden hour”. The metal grates create leading lines in the photo which focuses the reader's attention to the focal point which is the girl. The girl is also being framed by the arc the slide and creates an emphasis on the subject. This photo represents youth in the community and the connection humans have to nature. The girl engages with her community by visiting local parks and using resources available to her in the community. There is also juxtaposition between two objects in this shot; the playground structure and the tree. This is a great representation of humans working around nature and how we are able to enjoy ourselves amidst nature. My goal for the photo was to emphasize youth in the community. I accomplished my goal by showing a teenager on a slide. Playgrounds are the heart of the community since people of all ages can visit them and feel joyful while there. This picture also uses the principles and elements of art such as lines and emphasis to create a strong final image. In the future, I hope to use more elements of art such as colour to help convey my message to the viewer.
Pragya Kar
The photograph that I have taken has to do with nature and the outdoors. The subject is the whole picture because this photograph displays greenery throughout the entire picture. The title of my work is "Before the Horizon." Elements such as lines, contrast, and lighting are obvious in my work. Using a camera and a simple zoom helped me create my artwork. The big idea behind my work is a social issue. I want to show my viewers that the outdoors and nature is so beautiful, and we should respect it by not polluting and littering. My goals for this artwork was to display a close-up of nature, and getting the horizon was a bonus. After achieving my goal, my overall thoughts of my artwork is that this is what I pictured, and this piece will influence my future artworks because it will help me to look at the small details because that's what makes the big picture.
Mariam Arif
My photo is a picture of a tide. I took this picture because I really like the sea. The sound of the waves were really relaxing, and I wanted to capture this moment with my camera. My goal for this photo was to capture, the tides moving and hitting the ship. My overall thoughts of this picture are to get a picture of a moving object. You need a lot of patience to get the picture while having the same movement you see in real life.
Silma Manwar
My artwork is a concept of a person who is taking a photo. My subject is a friend. I saw that person take a photo and I looked over and I thought that would be a really creative idea. The big idea about it is how photographers take photos. Mostly we see the picture the photographers took but how the photographers take it is a really creative concept, something people would be curious to see. My goal as an artist is to take pictures of nature in such a creative way which will amaze everyone and I’m pretty confident my artwork helped me get one step closer to where l want to be. As a rookie photographer, I'm really proud of myself for taking this photo because it gives away a lot of meanings and a really pretty view.
Youshra Zara
My artwork consists of a person who was very focused on telling me a story. I absolutely love how they looked as they talked to me about a memorable day and how their face lit up as they spoke to me. The photos were taken from a worms eye view and a close up. At first I had to move my subject around a little bit to get the perfect shot. Which worked out perfectly for me since I got exactly what I had wanted as an artist. The perfect contrast, shadows, the lighting and the focal points. As an amateur I wanted to play around and find what i was comfortable doing while still being able to capture something beautiful. I let my subject get comfortable with me and as they spoke to me and told me stories I realised they'd show a lot more emotion than they would if I had just asked them to stay still and look at me. There's something about candid photos that really attracts me. It shows and says a lot about the subject. And that's something about photography that I've come to love over time.