Capturing cultures

Self-taught photographer Asad Rahman sees his subjects through multicultural lense

Canadian Immigrant Magazine
April 2009

Gloria Elayadathusseril

Nothing is more fascinating than telling stories with images, says Asad Rahman. Having spent his childhood watching his native Bangladesh build after its creation in 1971, the year he was born, he says, “I wondered about my surroundings … images, whether moving or still, always fascinated me.”

Today, he is a self-taught photographer and his childhood fascination for images has only grown stronger. “My photographs capture stolen points in time where the honesty of our surroundings are at their most vulnerable and exposed,” he notes with a sense of pride.

Since his immigration to Canada in May 2001, he has pursued his passion for photography through various projects, including a recent photo essay for the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) called 20 Journeys: A Visual Essay of the Immigrant Experience.

“20 Journeys opened the doors for me,” Rahman says. In this travelling photo exhibition, he was asked to bring out the emotions of several newcomers who have kept afloat, despite many struggles.

“It was challenging, but I enjoyed working with people from many different countries and from various backgrounds,” he says.

Rahman says he came to Canada with only a suitcase and no friends or family members to pick him up from the airport, so he could connect with his subjects easily, one immigrant to another. “Through the project I understood I was not alone … everyone [in 20 Journeys] has gone through this [newcomer experience].”

This project is just the beginning in his journey as a photographer. “Our surroundings are filled with stories and beauty well within everyone’s reach,” he says adding “My role is to bring light to these stories.”

In the last few years, Rahman’s works have been showcased at various locations across the Greater Toronto Area, including the BCE Place (now the Brookfield Place), the First Canadian Place and Toronto “O” Free Gallery.

In the coming weeks he will be exhibiting a collection of photographs he took within three kilometres radius of Cabbagetown, at a neighbourhood restaurant. “As a photographer and artist I do not limit my creativity and allow myself to have fun,” laughs Rahman.

The photographer’s favourite shooting location so far has been the Bleeker Street co-operative building where he lives. “Living in a community building itself is a great experience,” he says. “It is the [true] idea of what diversity means … people from Vietnam, the Middle East, Caucasians, single mothers, gay couples and transsexuals … they all live here and I was thrilled to photograph these people and the neighbourhood.”

Rahman, however, indulges in photography only in his spare time, because he is otherwise occupied in a full-time job in marketing and business administration.

While he came to Canada with a business degree from Singapore and has found a job in his field, his dream is to work in photojournalism. Inspired by Pavel Rahman, one of Bangladesh’s most famous press photographers, he hopes to follow in his footsteps in the near future.

With such passion and obvious talent in his work, it may not be long before Asad Rahman appears in photo credits in media across Canada.

Read this story on the Canadian Immigrant web site along with samples of Asad’s photos. > Go

Reference: Canadian Immigrant Magazine