Hikmah Butt: Small Acts of Resistance

‘Small Acts of Resistance’ was a live brief produced by Multistory for BCU students to respond to. The brief invited students to explore how different communities in Sandwell and the wider Black Country are resisting the destruction of biodiverse landscapes, taking rewilding, growing and ‘greening’ into their own hands, and making it accessible to everyone.

Hikmah: “In this project I enjoyed working with camera shake and I wanted to make the images look very dreamy. I used black and white to add to the dreamlike effect. At the allotment that I went to, I decided to photograph the Mashallah sign I saw there as I wanted to show the diversity of Birmingham and the Black Country. The camera shake added to the atmosphere of the images. As a photographer, I wanted to show that so called ‘weak’ images can be turned into strong ones. I wanted the images to feel very isolated, but also wanted to show that allotments are a really nice place to go. The images focus on  nature and it really showed in the allotment how much nature is around us. You can really see the image because of the shapes and texture highlighted by the use of black and white. In the allotment space I went to it was very calm and quiet with no loud noises or people, so I managed to really reflect this in the photoshoot. The camera really captured the moment that I wanted really well.”

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Artist Biography

My name is Hikmah Butt. I’m a portrait photographer and currently halfway through my degree in Photography at Birmingham City University. While there I have worked with different brands and organisations like Duplicate Publishing Fair, and have independently done different types of photography like product, documentary, landscape and natural photography. Previously I have used Urdu words to name my photography series, and it was very popular with my family in Pakistan. I normally focus on diversity in the UK. I have met different artists at uni and have received their feedback on some of my work. I like to visit exhibitions and galleries and am a good team worker. I work well in the studio now that I have been there for two years, so it was exciting to try something new by photographing community allotments with Multistory.

Find Hikmah on Instagram.