Oniqur Rahman is the artist for our May Residency. Oniqur is a Founder and Producer at FUTURE16 a future-focused creative studio made in Newham, East London. Always finding new and innovative ways to bring stories to fruition, Oniqur’s work melds technology, 3D, culture, theatrics, Artificial Intelligence, experiences, and the senses into ground-breaking content for a new audience.
Oniqur believes that If there was ever a time where photography should been at the forefront of our culture, it’ now. For the residency project, they captured through the lens what it’s like to be a young person in London in the hectic period of 2020-21. The project is bigger than a photo book, with an effort to capture the sights, sounds, and even smells of the city. Through the project, Oniqur tries to show young people from areas like theirs: that photography isn't something limited to the White middle class only.
London is changing and with the arrival of this new decade, we will see things change faster than they ever have. We'll see places that we once knew become unrecognisable, dress senses will lose their glam and our slang will become archaic and it is for this exact reason why I feel the need to capture the spirit of this environmental change.
Along with the photo book, as part of the project Oniqur also produced a documentary, interviewing people from and exploring London’s East End experience through different perspectives and different stories.
