Aparita

The Toronto Star

Sabahat Qureshi captures images of Gerrard St. ‘We were all in-between, not white, not Indian.’

 

APARITA BHANDARI

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

 

Photography has always been a part of Sabahat Qureshi’s life.

One of his earliest memories is that of his father showing him the magic of developing pictures in the darkroom of the family-run photo shop on Gerrard St.

“He’d pull me in,” recalls Qureshi, smiling. “He’d take this blank piece of paper and submerge it into this water. The first time I saw it, I was confused. Then, these pictures started appearing, like magic.

“It was just someone’s passport photo, but I thought it was awesome.”

For Qureshi, 28, it’s been a long journey from the small shop in Little India to his own studio on Polson St. And along the way, he has captured his experiences the way he knows best - through photos.

“I want to have an archive, a record of what goes around me, in my neighbourhood,” he says. “And the Gerrard India Bazaar is my home.”

The Qureshi family immigrated to Canada in 1978. While his father spent his days working in a factory, his mother ran the photo shop. The family lived at the back of the store for a year before they bought a house in the neighbourhood.

Even though there were only a handful of Indian businesses in the Gerrard St. area at the time, there was a strong sense of community, says Qureshi. He has a deep voice that trails off as he takes another puff of his cigarette.

“There used to be lot of racist incidents. Stuff like window-breaking, fighting, or some sort of violence,” he says.

“But as the bazaar got bigger, everyone got to know each other. There was respect. We watched out for each other.”

The neighbourhood was a special place for the kids who lived in the stores run by their parents, he recalls.

“On the weekends, we worked for our folks. Everything revolved around the bazaar. In the summertime, we’d get yelled at for rolling tires down the street or kicking balls in the alleys.

“My friend Bobby’s mum always dragged us by the ear and had us make trays of laddoos (Indian sweets) for some wedding.”

For Qureshi, his photography is a way for him to try to understand the two seemingly different cultures he grew up with - the Indian and the Canadian.

“We were all in-between, not white, not Indian,” he says. “We didn’t understand certain rituals and customs, like why we couldn’t eat beef on certain days when there was a McDonald’s right around the corner.”

By the time he was 12, Qureshi would take turns with his siblings sitting at the counter of his parents’ store, taking passport pictures. When he was 16, he was attending weddings, dressed in a borrowed suit, ready to snap photos.

“My father told me, `Just to shoot and advance the film,’” he says, laughing. “But I learned a lot of basic stuff.”

After studying theatre for a year, Qureshi decided what he really wanted to do was be a photographer. He decided to learn the art by assisting and apprenticing with any studio that would take him. His hard work paid off and he went on to work with such Toronto photographers as Bert Bell and Philip Rostron.

In 1997, he landed a job as an assistant at the studio of prominent advertising photographer Shin Sugino.

“People told me that I had slim to none chances of getting in Shin’s studio,” says Qureshi. “But I would work full days assisting (other) photographers and then show up at Shin’s.”

He is nothing if not persistent, Qureshi says.

“I come from a blue-collar family. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to work hard.”

At Sugino’s studio, the young photographer had a chance to learn the finer points of the art. A year later, Sugino suggested Qureshi go out on his own. Qureshi soon set up a studio in the family store.

Like many other stores on Gerrard St., his parents shared the space, in their case with Image Boutique, a clothing store run by his aunt. So he moved his “studio” to the back of the store.

“I wanted to have a studio like Shin,” says Qureshi, laughing. “I couldn’t do that. So I just made a small black box for my studio and did my work there.”

Much of Qureshi’s work is commercial photography, working with clients like Barnes and Noble, Cargo cosmetics and Dell Computers. He has also shot for magazines such as Shift and Wedding Bells.

“Usually, I would pick up my assignment, shoot it and hand it back. But every now and again, some clients would come looking for me.

“Like someone from J.C. Penney would fly in from Texas and come stand in front of Image Boutique and scratch their heads. When I’d come running in from the back of the store, they’d look surprised. But I would get the work done.”

For the past year and half, Qureshi has worked from his spacious studio near the Docks.

It is a study in minimalism, with white walls offset by a large black leather couch. A vase of curly bamboo sits on a side table. A large, orange cloth lies on the floor, surrounded by photography equipment.

“I’m shooting some shoes,” he says, picking up a pair. “The orange picks up the colour in this pair.”

Despite his burgeoning career, Qureshi still finds time to make regular visits back to his old neighbourhood on Gerrard St.

“I go back and take pictures, or I get some of the kids to help me out,” he says. “They work in my studio, assist me sometimes.

“I made it out of the neighbourhood. But I remember growing up confused, unsure. And when the time comes, I return the favour.”

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