SPOKEN WORD: By Raheel Raza  at 4:30pm

About the Photographer:
Naureen Shah has been working as a freelance photographer for the past 20 years. Besides working for the major publications and advertising agencies in Pakistan Naureen’s work in recent years has concentrated on women and women’s issues. In Toronto she has worked for the Globe & Mail, The Toronto Star. In August 2002 Naureen traveled to the Afghan Refugee camp Jalozai to photograph the flight of Afghan Refugee women and children. Her work on Afghan women has been widely exhibited in Canada, United States and Pakistan. Naureen aims through her photography to celebrate and pay tribute to women and highlight not only their issues but also their strength.

Artist Statement:

" It had never occurred to me, until my last trip to Pakistan, that I could develop some kind of connection with Pakistani men, especially the ones in the street through my camera. If I had stayed in Pakistan, I would have never thought of doing this project. Class issues and fear would have come in the way. This is one of the phenomenon that happen with immigration…you can look at your society from a distance. Feeling that I was a foreigner gave me the courage to approach men in the streets of Pakistan….. felt somehow safe, that they would not hurt me. There in my own country, with my own people, with people that look like me. But in retrospect, I don’t think Pakistani men have changed. I am the one that has changed". 

Contact: 416-512-0612 or 416-505-6052

Shah_Naureen@hotmail.com