AISHA, Seeing Beyond the Frame

My name is Aisha Ajewo, I’m a Photographer.

Your photography often captures the beauty in the mundane and the evolution of urban spaces. What draws you to these everyday moments, and how do they reflect your own story as an urbanist?

My introduction to photography was mostly through unplanned portraits of friends and family which eventually changed when I moved to Toronto. I was taking in the spaces around me. At the same time, I was introduced to the concept of a Flaneur in an urban planning class in university, which is someone that can be described as an “Observer of Modern Life”, a person who strolls through the city without a fixed purpose, taking in sights, sounds, the atmosphere, the modern city and the urban environment. This Flaneur watches and experiences spaces in a detached but curious manner, making sense of the rhythms of city and urban life. 

In a way, I started to embody that into my photography the more I went out, and the more I leaned into understanding and capturing the spaces around me. To me, street photography and the urban environment have a deep connection, reflecting the social, architectural and cultural fabrics of cities but it's also a form of urban storytelling, showcasing the identities and cultures within spaces, and reflecting on the diversity, inequality and vibrancy of urban life. 

Street photography, intersected with urbanism to me embodies a sense of temporality, capturing moments that, although may seem mundane, are transient and unique to specific times and places. From an urbanist perspective, cities, especially Toronto, are experiencing constant change, and I have passively been capturing those changes from my eyes through the years. These photos have almost become mementos showing how the urban environment and human activities evolve over time. Toronto in particular is an amazing place to practice as a street photographer, every neighbourhood is so different and there is so much going on. A lot of my street photography includes people as well because they create the energy of the places that we’re around. I’ve been lucky to practice street photography in Toronto, although it takes some level of self awareness to photograph people, I find that people are generally okay with being photographed. 

More recently, I’ve noticed more prominent themes in my photos such as the rapid urban change that is happening around us (all these condos and development!). It's a very interesting paradox because as a professional, I’m very aware of the built environment and priority issues such as housing, displacement, architecture, design etc. and as a creative, I have chosen to highlight these issues and present them in a visual way to maybe reach people. Whether it's photographing buildings under construction or defaced development signs, there’s always a story to tell with what is happening, seeing those physical changes, but more importantly the underlying voice of people’s voices on these changes. If you look closely enough and listen well, you will see the patterns and moments.

As a Gambian artist based in Toronto, how do your cultural roots influence your creative vision and storytelling, especially in projects like "By the Sea"?

My cultural roots, my upbringing and the environment around me definitely influences how I create my vision and storytelling. By the Sea is a project near and dear to me that I unintentionally created. It was a trip I took back home to Gambia during the pandemic (after 2 years of lockdown) and I think we all remember how the pandemic went, the seclusion, isolation, grief and stillness that we all experienced. When I got to Gambia, I spent a lot of time by the water as it's always a conduit to me finding peace and it was the first time that I was intentional about having my camera with me all the time. This was not the best time for me in my personal life, but somehow the photos to me almost when I look at them now, almost illustrate the sense of peace and clarity I was seeking at the moment in my life. 

Not only was it based around an environment (the ocean) that I always gravitate towards, it also included me incorporating more people into my street photography and pushing past that fear. Pictures of people working on the land and the sea, the life of a day to day Gambian making it work. 

It was actually a turning point for me and my street photography in Gambia, whereas most of my photos were taken in Toronto, London, etc., there has always been a sense of slight apprehension to practice more street photography in Gambia, but this was a turning point for me in feeling comfortable to take photos of people. Being able to meet, connect with people, learn about their stories and explain mine as well gave me a sense of comfort. I’m actually currently working on expanding on this body of work now that I have had the time to digest it properly and understand its meaning to me. 

In your series “Bathroom Break,” you explored the intimate and shared moments of girlhood. What was the creative process behind this project, and what did you learn about girlhood and community through it?

Bathroom Break was an incredible project to work on with my friend Oyin who is also a producer and creative (shoutout to Oyin!). She had this concept for a while based on her own personal experiences (which many young adolescent girls can relate to) about intimate and friendship building moments that we experienced in school bathrooms growing up and wanted to be a photographer. 

We actually applied for a grant for Bathroom Break through an art residency with XiR, which made the experience even more meaningful. We received guidance, resources (very important) and physical space to showcase the photo series. 

I think what made this experience incredible was that the story just felt so close to me and other girls I knew who could identify, so that made it very easy to tap into the emotion(s) that we were trying to capture. Having that youthful, fun, curious and positive attitude really helped push the project along and I think at the core of everything, we were seeking to tell a visual story that people could look at and immediately feel connected to. Even the team that we built was very intentional, everyone understood what we were aiming to achieve, they connected to the story which made it that much easier to execute. 

As a photographer, of course it was a little nerve wracking as well - as a street photographer who enjoys the freedom of being outdoors, having to produce a project in a bathroom (a small one might I add) and work with talent was something new but exciting! 

We were very keen on having young models as part of the shoot to make it feel real and relatable, and the main character of the photo series was actually a teenager with no modelling experience and I honestly think that was the best decision we could make. We got a team of makeup artists, production lighting, styling and producing and together we were able to create something that was fun and meaningful to us! The entire team was mostly women and that in itself made the moment more special as we were able to recollect on our past memories as young teenagers as well and it truly felt like a moment of girlhood to not only bring the concept to life, but also create avenues for discussions and reminiscing when we had the exhibition! 

Street photography is such an honest art form. Can you share a memorable moment or subject you’ve captured that has left a lasting impression on you?

I would have to say, my favourite street photography moments have been my experiences at the Caribana Parade. I’ll never forget the first time I attended the parade to take some photos on film and not only were the people beyond beautiful, the energy was just great and you could tell that people wanted to and were okay with getting photographed. I really thrived in that environment because it felt like an energy exchange with the people I was taking photos of and it left a lasting impression on me. I ended up making it a tradition where I would take film photos at every Caribana Parade (between 2017-2022). The photos always captured an energy that reminded me why I love Toronto. Although it's a curated event, the energy of the people and the place on the day off made it a unique form of street and documentary style photography. 

I remember seeing old photographs from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s of Caribana and in those moments, it made me reflect on where my work fits in capturing these events in current times and how people in the future could potentially be looking at my photos as well as part of the general storytelling narrative of capturing this beautiful, unique and diverse part of the city. In a way, I like to think about some of my work through this lens, yes I am the one taking the photos, however it fits within specific themes that others in the past have photographed and what others might photograph in the future as well. So in a way, it sometimes almost feels like a duty (not in a bad way) to capture, document, enjoy and absorb. 

It’s always an honour to photograph people at Caribana, maybe I should go this year!

Being a multidisciplinary artist, how do you balance your passion for photography with your work in creative direction and urbanism, and how do these disciplines inform each other?

I’ll start by saying, I am still figuring out the balance and I think it’ll be a lifelong thing I seek to understand as I deepen my artistry and my creativity. I still remember in university, I kept wracking my brain about how to connect academia and professionalism (urban planning) and photography and somehow my work over the last few years has been an act of connecting those dots. So I say this to say, sometimes the connections might not be as obvious, especially as someone who considers themselves as a multi-disciplinary artist, but you just have to choose to satisfy those interests.
I think what helps me seek and achieve this balance (not always successful) is curiosity, digging deeper and asking questions (even if it's just to yourself). I think at the heart of being an artist, photographer, and documentarian is to be curious and to seek knowledge of the world around you and yourself. I most certainly think that my passion for photography/creative direction and urbanism inform each other, particularly with my street photography. 

As someone who documents change, whether through urban life or personal moments, what message or feeling do you hope viewers take away from your work?

I always encourage people to take away what comes to them the easiest and most presence because i think we all interpret and see things differently, but at the core art of the work that I do, i want it to almost be like a reminder to people that they can document what they are seeing from their world and their perspective and we all have that ability to bring meaning to things that they care about. I hope to bring feelings of memory, love, warmth, safety and awareness. 

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