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The news is out! Next week I’ll be getting up on stage at the Scotiabank Arena and speaking to 20,000 youth at WE Day Toronto about my journey with @the.sisters.project ✨🤯 I am equally terrified and super excited, but overall just super honoured by the opportunity. Let me know if you’ll be there 👋

Limitless Together. ⁣⁣
August 28, 2019. 🔗⁣⁣
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Received the most beautiful sneak peaks of our special day by our incredible photographer, @sararogersphotography ❤️

End of summer is going quite nicely

It’s world photography day and this summer also marks my 10 year anniversary as a photographer.
Although a passion for photography has run in my family, I discovered it for myself at 14 when my family bought it’s first digital point and shoot and I became obsessed with photographing my mom, my sisters, and the community of neighbours and friends around me. Quickly after, I was photographing weddings, family portraits, and entering/winning conceptual photography competitions while in high school. Doing my bachelor’s degree in photography was the best decision I ever made, it pushed me to make photographs about the topics I cared about, to use it to have a voice and a perspective, and to find a photographic community. Through the years I tried to define the kind of photographer I am and called myself different things… a commercial photographer, a portrait photographer, an editorial photographer, a photo based artist… but I’ve come to realize that I’m all the above. I’m a storyteller who uses photography to communicate messages and connect with people across the globe, and it takes place online, in galleries, on magazine pages, and (recently) on billboards.
Photography has become my entire life: my creative outlet, my way of connecting with others, my channel to create change, and contribute to the world. It’s beyond a job, or a hobby, being a photographer is how I walk through life.
Today I celebrate this beautiful medium and how grateful I am that I found it and pursued it. I am grateful for all the people who use photography to make change in the world, who share their stories through it, who show us all kinds of beauty, and to the editors, curators, art directors etc. who support, celebrate, uplift, and make space for our work. Especially those who are dedicated to diversifying who gets to work behind the lens.
Here are some of my favourite photography accounts & photographers (tag ones that inspire you below!): @girlgaze @womenphotograph @oliviabee @siandavey1 @luisadorr @colettedebarros #LaToyaRubyFrazier @tdnphoto @amberbmahoney @joeyldotcom @othergirl_julia @petrafcollins #PaoloRoversi #AnnieLeibovitz #RinekeDijkstra just to name a FEW.

Sorry to spam but here’s another album! 🙈
My lovely mom and sisters threw me a beautiful bridal shower filled with the cutest decor, yummiest food, and most of all my wonderful friends and Vancouver community 💕 I can’t thank them enough for putting this day together for me, and to my friends for all the love you shared, I feel so so spoiled! ✨
Hair and makeup by my fave @sherminmakeupandhair 💕Photos by my talented sister @asalahyoussef

My lovely mom and sisters threw me a beautiful bridal shower filled with the cutest decor, yummiest food, and most of all my wonderful friends and Vancouver community 💕 I can’t thank them enough for putting this day together for me, and to my friends for all the love you shared, I feel so so spoiled! ✨
Hair and makeup by my fave @sherminmakeupandhair 💕
Photos by my talented sister @asalahyoussef

See you in a month Toronto ✌️ Leaving town to work on my new project in Edmonton and Vancouver, hang in Vancouver with friends and fam, and marry my best friend. Next time I see this skyline, I’ll be flying home with a hubby.
Photos from our engagement shoot with @shaerobbs 💕

Happy Birthday to my little sister who becomes an ADULT today! 🥳
She’s truly one of a kind — a hilarious, sarcastic, uninhibited, big hearted lady who never lets her inner child go far. (Just watch her YouTube videos for confirmation) Can’t wait to see all the big things this year/life has in store for you! 💞

I’m extremely honoured to be nominated for the MAX (Muslim Awards for Excellence) “Artist Of The Year” Award, especially being nominated alongside such great talent of diverse artistic fields. A part of this award includes public voting and support! It would mean so much to me if you could take 2 minutes out of your day to vote for me as Artist of the Year (link in bio), and read about/ vote for the amazing people in the 5 other categories.

I began @the.sisters.project 2.5 years ago as a small project that I hoped would show my local community how diverse and amazing Muslim women are. Since then I have photographed 160 women in 12 cities across Canada and it has been seen by millions of people across the world. From being profiled on countless online media publications, to being featured on @instagram, to leading me to work on Project #ShowUs by @dove @gettyimages @girlgaze which was seen in Times Square, Piccadilly Circus, and Oprah Magazine to name a few. This project has given me razor sharp vision to dedicate my career and work towards a future of inclusive and celebratory media for Muslim women and Women of Colour that makes us feel like we all belong to the places we call home. I believe it’s imperative for me as a photographer to amplify the voices and stories of my community members in order to create a world where all are all represented, and we can see ourselves in the stories of others. Being nominated for this award means so much to me because it’s recognition coming from within my own community by an organization that’s doing incredible work for Muslims across the country.

Bye Cali 👋 So happy I got to join my family on this road trip and finally see what everyone’s raving about ✨

🎵 Lately I’m feeling like a big bang cause I’ve been making something out of nothing (Mother Mother) 🎵
Obsessed with the Griffith Observatory and hope I get to visit LA again soon to spend more time there ✨

A day at Santa Monica and Venice beach 💞

Trying to spot some seals along with an excuse to stay here longer 👀

I ❤️ Big Sur and Highway 1

Voting to reappoint “The Windy City” to San Fransisco

Hi San Fran 👋 Beautiful start to the Youssef California roadtrip!

That surreal moment when you see your photograph on a cover in Indigo’s magazine section 😍 (swipe to see inside cover feature)
Congrats @cherie.dimaline on your new book and gracing the cover of @quillandquire! Thanks so much @adriandoran for the opportunity and art direction and @olivesque for makeup and hair ✨

Elise

June 22, 2016 in Editorial portraiture

Elise is an illustrator and total sweetheart.

I photographed Elise as part of a project exploring people who moved to Toronto to pursue their artistic passions.

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