The power of photography- I got to see my mum at the age of 15. My mum has very few photographs of herself like this and nobody in my family had seen this portrait of mum until I discovered it in our family’s archive.

Since I was 8 years old, my mum has beat cancer twice and I feel like I only have really seen her get older and weaker, day by day. She is now 57 years old and this image takes me back to a mum I never knew. One that wore flats, tied her hair a certain way, wore glass bangles and went to the studio with her family to have a photoshoot.

South Asian Heritage month celebrates South Asian heritage and culture but also creatives, educators and individuals all across UK have been expressing their identity and heritage for a very long time. It is time to embrace diversity and give equal opportunities to all races. That time I hope will be now.

@maryamwb