The Dots
The Dots
Log in
Join
Join now for free

My @out.lookin.in post

  • anisha bedesha

I have started a space for POC/ ethnic or any minority group creatives (photographers first but branching into DJ's, artists, etc etc) This is my post for the page - there is 5 of us that will be exhibiting some work in Manchester on the 6th April

Hello, I am Anisha / @filmbyanisha. I am the one who has created Out Looking In, the pinned post explains the concept behind it.

I have been doing film photography for about 10 years, starting with rubbish disposable cameras and venturing into my first camera which was £10, an Olympus Trip 100 which allowed me to really start perfecting the art of film portrait.

Starting with pictures of friends and branching out into events but also still being able to capture a good landscape, for someone who wasn’t told or pushed to be creative growing up, I won’t lie I am pretty chuffed with the outcome of my photos and how they’ve grown over the years.
(my photo of myself)
I am Indian British and have lived all around England (and briefly Dubai as a kid where I had a lot of racist abuse from white expats). I have grown up in lots of areas where there wasn’t a lot of Indian people and I always felt on the outside. I genuinely thought my life would be easier if I was white with blonde hair and blue eyes. Occasionally I still do.

I have seen it not just in the creative world but in my personal world and my professional world with being treated differently at jobs for the colour of my skin. It’s mad. There’s been a surge of people suddenly appreciating Punjabi music especially garage but I still remember the days where that one tune (you know the one) would come on and a club of people would turn to me like ‘Yeah this one’s yours!’. I can’t even speak Punjabi and it’s like why can’t one of the English songs have been mine?
Incorporating global music especially a lot
of Punjabi music seems to be really trendy right now. So how long is being Punjabi going to stay trendy for? Does anyone know what’s happening in the Punjabi community in India at the moment? There is a second peaceful farmers protest where Punjabi farmers are dying from bullet wounds and having tear gas thrown at them in India. It’s happening currently but that part isn’t trendy is it?

The music is trendy but my Asian features still aren’t. The food still isn’t because it smells when an Asian person eats it, it’s okay when a white person eats it though. I’m not saying people need to know exactly what’s going on everywhere but if you’re going to use my culture as a trend I at least hope you know what’s going on/ gone on to some extent.
The creative world can be hard to break into because not only am I of South Asian descent but also female and people don’t seem to take that as seriously as others. I wasn’t taught to be creative, I was pushed to be academic more than anything but the creativity was always going to push through eventually.

In my personal life though, I am a lot happier and surround myself with good people and things so that’s one thing I no longer need to be worried about. So I have created this space to champion the creatives coming from POC/ ethnic minority or any minority backgrounds.
Report

Skills