Shaista is a photographer and visual artist interested in the relationship between visual histories and the present, particularly in relation to the lives of Muslims. She began her career working as a self-taught photojournalist collaborating with organisations such as UN Women, CARE International and Islamic Relief. Her work has been published and exhibited internationally, and she has been the recipient of awards for this work. However, due to concerns about the nature of the visual culture surrounding development work, Shaista embarked on an MA in Documentary Photography, leading to a transformation in her practice. Shaista is currently undertaking a practice-based PhD at Cardiff University and is a recipient of a prestigious Jameel Scholarship. Shaista’s research explores the role of visuality in the discourse of islamophobia.
Nilupa Yasmin is a Birmingham-based artist whose practice combines photography, weaving, and installation to explore identity, heritage, and belonging through her British Bengali Muslim experience.
Rehan Jamil is a British Pakistani social documentary photographer working with marginalised communities, with much of his work centering on British Muslims across the UK. His practice focuses on projects that explore identity, belonging, and social change. His work has been exhibited widely, including ZeroZeroZero: British Asian Cultural Provocation at the Whitechapel Art Gallery (1999), Common Ground: Aspects of Contemporary British Muslim Experience, a British Council global touring exhibition (2003), PSP: The Beautiful Script at the Dray Walk Gallery, The Old Truman Brewery (2005), East End of Islam at Rich Mix (2012), and most recently Jummah Aesthetics: British Muslim Men and Their Sartorial Choices at Oxford House, London (2024).
Recently he completed a two-year residency with Historic England, exploring the history and community of Petticoat Lane. His co-curated project This is Me, developed in collaboration with the MCP girls’ group, is on permanent display at the Young V&A.
Marwan Bassiouni is an artist photographer based in Amsterdam, born in Switzerland to an Italian-American mother and an Egyptian father. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, his work has been widely exhibited and collected internationally. He is represented by Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam.
Alina Akbar is a Manchester-based visual artist working across photography, film, and installation. A Circa Prize 2024 finalist, her work has been exhibited at Manchester Museum and includes collaborations with Manchester United, Chanel, Nike, and the Manchester rap scene.
Miriam is a photographic artist and community worker from Glasgow. Her photographic practice explores her heritage, community relations and the connection between land and people. Miriam seeks to uncover intergenerational histories and patterns of migration through the use of alternative photographic techniques, physical archives, and historical records.
Miriam graduated with a BA(hons) in Photography from City of Glasgow College and has since been working as a freelance photographer and workshop facilitator collaborating with a range of arts and community organisations including Rumpus Room, Greater Govanhill Magazine, Modus Arts and Bradford 25. She was recently appointed as a director of Bowling Green Together CIC, a thriving community green space in the Southside of Glasgow which organises events and public engagement programmes for the local community.
Asim Rafiqui is an independent photographer and writer based between Sweden and Pakistan. His practice interrogates the cultural and political dynamics of religious and contested sites, examining spaces of co-existence alongside displacement and ruin, while his writing reflects on testimony, memory, and the politics of representation.
Mahtab Hussain was born and grew up in Glasgow, Scotland to immigrant parents from Azad Kashmir and Punjab, Pakistan in 1981, before relocating to Birmingham in 1987, where he suffered racist abuse growing up.