The lives of 66 pioneering women have been documented by a Bradford photographer.
After years forging her own path, photographer Shy Burhan wanted to document stories of inspirational women who paved the way for future generations.
The national exhibition, funded by Arts Council England, will be unveiled to the world at Haworth Art Gallery, Accrington, this International Women’s Day.
From MBE-holders to a polymath, train driver and journalist, it is an ode to those who broke into industries where women of colour are traditionally underrepresented.
Shy, who was born in Girlington and now lives in Shipley, said: “This could be something I could continue for years to come.
“As women of colour, you don’t just work hard, we work twice as hard. We just get on with it. We’ve not toppled the patriarchy in our respective sectors, it’s more like chipping away.
“We have to confront and challenge systemic misogyny and institutionalised racism, the microaggressions we face on a daily basis. It’s not fair. It distracts us from the work we have to do.
“We need more women but certainly more women of colour.
“You can only really experience that if you’re a woman of colour, we’re people of colour but we’re women. We also get it in our own communities - ‘don’t think too big, get married, have children, know your place’.
“It’s a really big thing for me that we forge a path for younger generations. There always has to be a first. That first always tends to take more knocks and shatter more glass ceilings.
“Someone has to do it. It’s really important to have a mentor to look up to. It’s about giving the platform for people to share their stories.
“If you show the younger generation women of colour it gives them the confidence to say, ‘I can do it too’.
“It’s about getting a message out there that we can do it on a daily basis, to stay focused, know that we can do anything. Your dreams are only going to be dreams if they stay in your head. Go out and live it.
The groundbreaking work is also a tribute to Shy’s younger self, who was told not to ‘think too big' and get a 'real job’.
“I remember walking home from St Joseph’s College in 1995 and we had the first set of Manningham riots happening in front of my eyes,” she said.
“That’s something that stuck with me. I didn’t know I was going to be a photographer but I remember thinking, ‘I wish I had a camera, I wish I had the skill set to photograph something like that’. I’m always inspired by my memories.
“I’m proud to create something that’s original and organic and resonates hopefully with other people.
“I like to peel the onion. It’s something in me.”
Who is in the exhibition?
The 'Women in Uniform' exhibition features a number of Bradford-based women, including polymath and highly successful solicitor Dr Ruby Bhatti OBE.
Other local faces include MBE-holder Sofia Buncy, national co-ordinator at the Khidmat Centre and head of the Muslim Women in Prison project, and Ana Rodriguez, who is rebuilding her life in Yorkshire after fleeing the cartel in El Salvador.
Meanwhile 21-year-old civil engineering apprentice Alisa Ahmad, who attended Dixons Trinity Academy, is pictured.
Alisa is among the 16.5 per cent of women currently working in the UK’s engineering industry.
Humma Nizami, executive director of the Race Equality Network in Bradford, and Tahira Bibi, the UK’s first female Pakistani train driver from Bradford.
In 2019, the industry wide ASLEF Diversity report showed just 6.5 per cent of train drivers in the UK were women.
The train driver trade union’s research also showed less than 9 per cent of train drivers overall were from an ethnic minority.
Shy has previously delved into themes such as food waste, food poverty, domestic abuse, regeneration of city centres, and body positivity.
Shy, who attended Lilycroft Primary School, added: “I love the fact that photography is for everyone. Taking a photograph can be a democratic act.
“Firstly in terms of accessibility as most people have access to a camera to a DSLR or a smartphone these days.
“Secondly, it can be a socially engaged process especially if we choose to collaborate with other participants, partners.
“It gives us the agency to relay our authentic visual narratives, and it’s that way of ‘actively looking’ that makes an image, a photograph, compelling.”
Shy Burhan’s Women in Uniform exhibition will be on show at Haworth Art Gallery, Hollins Lane, Accrington, between March 8, 2023, and May 14, 2023.
To book free tickets for the exhibition, you can visit the Eventbrite website via https://bit.ly/3ZNFll3
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