[Music]
so thanks so in April this year this
photo was taken of me at needy alderman
by him it kind of spanned lots of press
media trended on various platforms and
things and at the time I was labeled as
an activist and at one point almost
became smallest my name is Sofia Kahn
activist Brahmi activist pictured in
photo and at the time I couldn’t work
out why it was that I felt almost
uncomfortable introducing myself like
that or being labeled as that I’m gonna
go into a little bit about that in this
talk today and that’s completely
contradictory to why I’ve put activists
my bio on Instagram that’s purely
business so um so I work now as a
photographer and obviously photographer
bisque Joe Gibbons did a really amazing
job and I’m gonna try and explain to you
a my issue the word activist be–how
ends up in this picture and see a time
live it up photo photography using a
photography analogy
so I’m just taking a picture of you all
and that leads to questions sorry it
leads to questions first of all what
process led to me taking that picture
I’ve just took all the volume II now and
the second question is what process led
up to me being in a bat picture and how
are they similar so for me I spelled it
down to four steps step one that’s me at
14 I started getting politically engaged
and I remember that start because I saw
the EDL come to Birmingham in 2013
I saw the resulting riots I saw the
police presence I saw the arrests and I
realized that really wasn’t for me and
then I started seeing the videos of
anti-racist groups and anti-fascist
groups and local Brumbies and people who
weren’t affiliates necessarily with a
group but it felt like that shouldn’t
exist in their town I did something
about it and that’s when I focused in
the same way you can focus in with a
camera I realized what it was to me that
was really important
I became politically engaged I decided
what my work my political journey was
gonna head towards another thing
identified as being important was class
struggle which I put lots of things in
those terms including racism and things
like that and more specifically in this
case I decided that public spaces and
accessibility to the 99% it was what I
was gonna focus on I was gonna dedicate
my time to so step two these are some
pictures from a campaign that I was part
of called towards people’s library a
couple years ago and an example of this
it kind of shows me zooming in I was
zooming in on what was going on in my
community in my local area in my town
Birmingham and I was working out what
problems there were and how it was that
I was gonna apply myself and try and fix
them through campaigning and direct
action things so couple years ago
bourbon library soon after it was open
actually ran out of funding and they ran
out of funding to keep opening hours the
same as when they were when its first
opened to make sure they weren’t further
staff cuts and things like that lets me
meet were led me to believe the space
was no longer a public library because
it wasn’t accessible to the public
families who worked nine to five jobs
and maybe only had Sundays off with our
kids
couldn’t go to Boheme central library
because Berman Central Library wasn’t
open on a Sunday and students and
students from colleges and you nice and
school can use a space either because it
closed at 5:00 p.m. so that was the
point in which I realized that Boehm
Central Library the public library was
no longer a public library and there was
an issue of accessibility then there was
an issue of accessibility for the 99%
for the working classes so I decided
that I was gonna get involved with this
campaign and that involved the group
that I was working with having meetings
with trade unions and weekly meetings
within ourselves and weekly sit-ins
protests and then events that led to
bigger things which involve the arts and
food and socializing and things and
eventually after quite a few weeks doing
my GCSEs we managed to get the opening
hours reinstated which was a success for
us can I get a la that was a massive
success for us looking back in an hour
we realized that the reason the opening
hours were reinstated had some issues to
do with privatization of floors which
means the campaign’s gonna be revisited
but this was the first time that I got
engaged in a local level which is always
really important is often overlooked
grassroots political work so the next
step for me I work as a photographer now
and I got involved soon after my GCSEs
with photography using the camera my mum
gave me which is if you don’t think my
cameras is an icon d40 which really
isn’t that good but I’ve evolved a bit
of an emotion attachment to it so my
step next is usually before I take a
photo
Izu mout so no matter how far I’ve
jumped in and decided what project it is
only part of a zoom out again I take a
step back and I look at it in a way
regarding how can I best apply myself
and that usually involves a bit of
self-reflection working out what your
personal skills are working out how it
is that you can apply yourself to to
best better the collective aim that
you’re going for so I became involved
with a group embalming ham another local
group called punch records and they gave
me opportunity to create a photo
documentary of a ten week project based
at two youth centres you can see the
Concord Youth Centre in South Birmingham
and the lighthouse in North Birmingham
and I work for 10 weeks in the
background as kids started this project
with little performance experience
little you know kind of professional
skills but they all had an interesting
music to the point where 10 weeks down
the line that performance medic mellow
which you can see in the top picture and
that was an amazing experience to follow
down and see the progress of these young
people and that was me applying myself
in the best way that I knew how as a
photographer offering my skills up to a
community project and the project itself
was really important to me as well
because again it was young kids who
maybe wouldn’t have always had the same
opportunities because they they went to
youth Center’s getting the opportunities
that everyone else should be able to get
and it means it was a is a project of
all the accessibility and after that
said quite recently it clicked for me
the same way a shutter does it clicked
for me why it was that I was
uncomfortable being labeled an activist
and I can explain it now in a way I was
unable to before and I can articulate it
I don’t think the word activist should
exist and that’s quite a bold statement
because we always associate it with
positive things but why is that it’s
because the term activist exists to
describe people that are more active in
the community more active in society and
I don’t think that should exist just as
a term I think everyone should have some
knowledge what’s going on grassroots in
their communities some engagement some
intention to better things in a
selflessness and I think that’s
everyone’s capable of that as well so
the picture taken of me oh the picture
taken of me could have been anyone it
was completely chance and in my utopia
it would be due to chance because
everyone had the same opportunity so I
say be active not an activist thank you
[Applause]
you
[Music]
so thanks so in April this year this
photo was taken of me at needy alderman
by him it kind of spanned lots of press
media trended on various platforms and
things and at the time I was labeled as
an activist and at one point almost
became smallest my name is Sofia Kahn
activist Brahmi activist pictured in
photo and at the time I couldn’t work
out why it was that I felt almost
uncomfortable introducing myself like
that or being labeled as that I’m gonna
go into a little bit about that in this
talk today and that’s completely
contradictory to why I’ve put activists
my bio on Instagram that’s purely
business so um so I work now as a
photographer and obviously photographer
bisque Joe Gibbons did a really amazing
job and I’m gonna try and explain to you
a my issue the word activist be–how
ends up in this picture and see a time
live it up photo photography using a
photography analogy
so I’m just taking a picture of you all
and that leads to questions sorry it
leads to questions first of all what
process led to me taking that picture
I’ve just took all the volume II now and
the second question is what process led
up to me being in a bat picture and how
are they similar so for me I spelled it
down to four steps step one that’s me at
14 I started getting politically engaged
and I remember that start because I saw
the EDL come to Birmingham in 2013
I saw the resulting riots I saw the
police presence I saw the arrests and I
realized that really wasn’t for me and
then I started seeing the videos of
anti-racist groups and anti-fascist
groups and local Brumbies and people who
weren’t affiliates necessarily with a
group but it felt like that shouldn’t
exist in their town I did something
about it and that’s when I focused in
the same way you can focus in with a
camera I realized what it was to me that
was really important
I became politically engaged I decided
what my work my political journey was
gonna head towards another thing
identified as being important was class
struggle which I put lots of things in
those terms including racism and things
like that and more specifically in this
case I decided that public spaces and
accessibility to the 99% it was what I
was gonna focus on I was gonna dedicate
my time to so step two these are some
pictures from a campaign that I was part
of called towards people’s library a
couple years ago and an example of this
it kind of shows me zooming in I was
zooming in on what was going on in my
community in my local area in my town
Birmingham and I was working out what
problems there were and how it was that
I was gonna apply myself and try and fix
them through campaigning and direct
action things so couple years ago
bourbon library soon after it was open
actually ran out of funding and they ran
out of funding to keep opening hours the
same as when they were when its first
opened to make sure they weren’t further
staff cuts and things like that lets me
meet were led me to believe the space
was no longer a public library because
it wasn’t accessible to the public
families who worked nine to five jobs
and maybe only had Sundays off with our
kids
couldn’t go to Boheme central library
because Berman Central Library wasn’t
open on a Sunday and students and
students from colleges and you nice and
school can use a space either because it
closed at 5:00 p.m. so that was the
point in which I realized that Boehm
Central Library the public library was
no longer a public library and there was
an issue of accessibility then there was
an issue of accessibility for the 99%
for the working classes so I decided
that I was gonna get involved with this
campaign and that involved the group
that I was working with having meetings
with trade unions and weekly meetings
within ourselves and weekly sit-ins
protests and then events that led to
bigger things which involve the arts and
food and socializing and things and
eventually after quite a few weeks doing
my GCSEs we managed to get the opening
hours reinstated which was a success for
us can I get a la that was a massive
success for us looking back in an hour
we realized that the reason the opening
hours were reinstated had some issues to
do with privatization of floors which
means the campaign’s gonna be revisited
but this was the first time that I got
engaged in a local level which is always
really important is often overlooked
grassroots political work so the next
step for me I work as a photographer now
and I got involved soon after my GCSEs
with photography using the camera my mum
gave me which is if you don’t think my
cameras is an icon d40 which really
isn’t that good but I’ve evolved a bit
of an emotion attachment to it so my
step next is usually before I take a
photo
Izu mout so no matter how far I’ve
jumped in and decided what project it is
only part of a zoom out again I take a
step back and I look at it in a way
regarding how can I best apply myself
and that usually involves a bit of
self-reflection working out what your
personal skills are working out how it
is that you can apply yourself to to
best better the collective aim that
you’re going for so I became involved
with a group embalming ham another local
group called punch records and they gave
me opportunity to create a photo
documentary of a ten week project based
at two youth centres you can see the
Concord Youth Centre in South Birmingham
and the lighthouse in North Birmingham
and I work for 10 weeks in the
background as kids started this project
with little performance experience
little you know kind of professional
skills but they all had an interesting
music to the point where 10 weeks down
the line that performance medic mellow
which you can see in the top picture and
that was an amazing experience to follow
down and see the progress of these young
people and that was me applying myself
in the best way that I knew how as a
photographer offering my skills up to a
community project and the project itself
was really important to me as well
because again it was young kids who
maybe wouldn’t have always had the same
opportunities because they they went to
youth Center’s getting the opportunities
that everyone else should be able to get
and it means it was a is a project of
all the accessibility and after that
said quite recently it clicked for me
the same way a shutter does it clicked
for me why it was that I was
uncomfortable being labeled an activist
and I can explain it now in a way I was
unable to before and I can articulate it
I don’t think the word activist should
exist and that’s quite a bold statement
because we always associate it with
positive things but why is that it’s
because the term activist exists to
describe people that are more active in
the community more active in society and
I don’t think that should exist just as
a term I think everyone should have some
knowledge what’s going on grassroots in
their communities some engagement some
intention to better things in a
selflessness and I think that’s
everyone’s capable of that as well so
the picture taken of me oh the picture
taken of me could have been anyone it
was completely chance and in my utopia
it would be due to chance because
everyone had the same opportunity so I
say be active not an activist thank you
[Applause]
you
[Music]
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