Nudrat Afza

Afza was born in Rawalpindi in 1955. She moved to Bradford in 1964 with her mother and two of her five siblings, where she later said, "I missed out on my education because new arrivals to Britain went to immigrant classes/centres that separated me from mainstream schooling, as well as prejudice [...] and racism in the education system". She trained in nursing and social work, and worked in that field until 1986.

Afza has no formal training in art or photography. In 1986, she received a grant from Yorkshire Arts to document the Bangladeshi community in Bradford. From 1989 to 1990 she worked on an exhibition at Huddersfield Art Gallery about South Asian communities in Kirklees.{{Cite web |last=Clayton |first=Emma |date=14 November 2017 |title=Exhibition captures unity and devotion of Bradford City's female fans |url=https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/15659563.exhibition-captures-unity-and-devotion-of-bradford-citys-female-fans/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007054154/https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/15659563.exhibition-captures-unity-and-devotion-of-bradford-citys-female-fans/ |archive-date=7 October 2022 |access-date=26 September 2019 |website=Bradford Telegraph and Argus |language=en}}

A single mother of a disabled daughter, Afza cannot afford her own camera or equipment.{{Cite web |last=Pidd |first=Helen |date=8 September 2019 |title=Say a prayer: the Muslim woman who photographed Bradford's last synagogue |url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/sep/08/muslim-woman-who-photographed-bradford-last-synagogue-jewish-worshippers-nudrat-afza |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003181146/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/sep/08/muslim-woman-who-photographed-bradford-last-synagogue-jewish-worshippers-nudrat-afza |archive-date=3 October 2022 |access-date=27 September 2019 |website=The Guardian |language=en}} Her work as a photographer is a "sporadically-engaged hobby" that she can only do when she receives a grant or residency.

In 2012, she photographed the last months of a Bradford salon before its owner's retirement.{{Cite journal |last=Afaz |first=Nudrat |date=October 2012 |title=The Kenmore Salon |url=https://issuu.com/howdomagazine/docs/issue_9_-_proof_-_revissuu3 |journal=HowDo?! |issue=9 |pages=12 |via=Issuu}} The work was exhibited at the University of Bradford.{{Cite journal |last=Hick |first=Caroline |date=October 2012 |title=Featured Artist: Nudrat Afza |url=https://issuu.com/howdomagazine/docs/issue_9_-_proof_-_revissuu3 |journal=HowDo?! |issue=9 |pages=8 |via=Issuu}}

For her series City Girls,{{Cite web |last=Neville |first=Colin |title=City Girls |url=http://jaquo.com/city-girls/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007222951/http://jaquo.com/city-girls/ |archive-date=7 October 2022 |access-date=26 September 2019 |website=JAQUO Lifestyle Magazine |language=en-US}} she photographed female fans of Bradford City in the Valley Parade stadium in black and white, using a Hasselblad Xpan camera given to her by Bradford screenwriter Simon Beaufoy.{{Cite journal |last=Simpson |first=Haigh |date=November 2015 |title=New calendar captures raw emotion of female fans |url=https://issuu.com/festivalpublications/docs/bradford_review_november_issuu |journal=The Bradford Review |issue=9 |pages=24–25 |via=Issuu}}{{Cite news |date=16 November 2017 |title=Bradford City's female football fans featured in exhibition |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-42012099 |access-date=26 September 2019}}

From 2018 to 2019, Afza, a Muslim, photographed the members of the Bradford Tree of Life Synagogue in Manningham, Bradford's last synagogue. Afza wanted to document the synagogue's culture, which had thrived in Bradford decades earlier. Under the title Kehillah (Hebrew for congregation or community), the photographs were exhibited in 2019.{{Cite web |date=5 March 2013 |title=Community groups rally together to save Bradford's historic synagogue |url=https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/10265898.community-groups-rally-together-to-save-bradfords-historic-synagogue/ |access-date=27 September 2019 |website=Bradford Telegraph and Argus |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=13 September 2019 |title=Bradford synagogue congregation featured in exhibition |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-49679683 |access-date=26 September 2019}}{{Cite web |last=Clayton |first=Emma |date=14 September 2019 |title=Muslim photographer documents life at city's synagogue |url=https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/17901927.muslim-photographer-documents-life-citys-synagogue/ |access-date=27 September 2019 |website=Bradford Telegraph and Argus |language=en}} She is now an honorary member of the synagogue.

Beaufoy commented on Kehillah:

Like all the best art, the images reflect the artist: watchful, politely enquiring, melancholic with the hint of a smile. So unobtrusive is the photographer's eye, that it's easy to miss what is being explored. There is always warmth and empathy, but often a distant sound of thunder.

• Zones of Gold: For Emily. With Conrad Atkinson. Cartwright Hall, Bradford. September–November 1992."[https://www.notjusthockney.info/nudrat-afza/ Afza, Nudrat]". Not Just Hockney. Accessed 26 September 2019."[https://makinghistoriesvisible.com/portfolio/box-18-contents-invitations-1990-1999/ Box 18 Contents – Invitations 1990 – 1999]" (archive catalogue). Making Histories Visible, University of Central Lancashire. Accessed 26 September 2019.
• Midnight Hour. University of Bradford.Gen Doy, Black Visual Culture: Modernity and Postmodernity. London: I.B. Tauris, 2000. {{ISBN|1860643825}}. P. 228.
• The Salon. Gallery II, University of Bradford. September–November 2012.{{Cite web |date=2012 |title=Nudrat Afza - The Salon |url=https://www.bradford.ac.uk/gallery/whats-on/past-exhibitions/2012/autumn12/The-Salon/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927025030/https://www.bradford.ac.uk/gallery/whats-on/past-exhibitions/2012/autumn12/The-Salon/ |archive-date=27 September 2019 |access-date=26 September 2019 |website=University of Bradford}}
• City Girls. National Science and Media Museum, November 2017 – June 2018.{{Cite web |date=2017 |title=City Girls |url=https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/what-was-on/city-girls |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007222951/https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/what-was-on/city-girls |archive-date=7 October 2022 |access-date=26 September 2019 |website=National Science and Media Museum |language=en}}"[https://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/news/2017/november/city-girls/ City Girls exhibition set for National Science and Media Museum]." Bradford City, 7 November 2017. Accessed 27 September 2019.
• Kehillah. Salts Mill, Saltaire, Bradford (Saltaire festival), September 2019.[https://saltairefestival.co.uk/events/kehillah-photographs-by-nudrat-afza/ Exhibition notice] for Kehillah. Saltaire Festival, 13 September 2019. Accessed 27 September 2019.

• 5 Women. The Pavilion, Leeds, 1988–89.Elizabeth Chaplin, Sociology and Visual Representation. London: Routledge, 1994. {{ISBN|0-415-07362-6}} (hardback), {{ISBN|0-415-07363-4}} (paperback). Pp. 114, 116.
• Fabled Territories: New Asian photography in Britain. City Art Gallery, Leeds, and touring. 1989.Melanie Klein and Liz Ward, eds, Recordings: A Select Bibliography of Contemporary African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian British Art. London: The Institute of International Visual Arts, 1996. {{ISBN|1-899846-06-9}}. [https://issuu.com/artslondonlibraries/docs/recordings_-_a_select_bibliography_ Here] at Issuu. Accessed 26 September 2019. Pp. 27–28.Maxine Walter. "Fabled territories: Photographer Maxine Walter discusses the touring exhibition of South Asian photography in Britain." Women's Art Magazine, January–February 1991, pp. 22+.
• In Focus. Horizon Gallery, London, February–March 1990. With Mumtaj Karimjee, Zarina Bhimji and Pradipta Das.Melanie Klein and Liz Ward, eds, Recordings: A Select Bibliography of Contemporary African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian British Art. London: The Institute of International Visual Arts, 1996. {{ISBN|1-899846-06-9}}. [https://issuu.com/artslondonlibraries/docs/recordings_-_a_select_bibliography_ Here] at Issuu. Accessed 26 September 2019. P. 20."[https://makinghistoriesvisible.com/portfolio/box-13-contents-flyers-information-sheets-1990s/ Box 13 Contents – Flyers & Information Sheets 1990s]" (archive catalogue). Making Histories Visible, University of Central Lancashire. Accessed 26 September 2019.
• One Hundred Years of Cheetham and Broughton. Jewish Museum, Manchester, February–December 2001."[http://manchesteririshfestival.co.uk/2001/education_exhibitions.html The Manchester Irish Festival: 9th–18th March 2001: Education and Exhibitions]", Manchester Irish Festival, 2001. Accessed 26 September 2019.
• Local People. City Park, Bradford. July–August 2019. With Ian Beesley, Shy Burhan, John Cade, Phil Jackson and Justin Leeming.{{Cite web |last=Winrow |first=Jo |date=27 June 2019 |title='Local People' focus for big screen Not Just Hockney display |url=https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/17731525.local-people-focus-big-screen-not-just-hockney-display/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007044739/https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/17731525.local-people-focus-big-screen-not-just-hockney-display/ |archive-date=7 October 2022 |access-date=27 September 2019 |website=Bradford Telegraph and Argus |language=en}}

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Category:1955 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from Rawalpindi

Category:Artists from Bradford

Category:Pakistani expatriates in England

Category:Social documentary photographers

Category:British documentary photographers

Category:English women photographers

Category:Photographers from Yorkshire

Category:British women photojournalists