Bo! Hi-Z Selectah!

Dj Hi-Z Supreme is shown here setting up for his performance alongside Sirraj L.K. at Coffeehouse.

AYZ

My cousin holds it down on stage with a few pieces.  AYZ is also an art/film student at VCU, check out the (winning) music video his group submitted for the Coffeehouse Film Competition: Islam Forever.

Uyghur 'n Out

Arafat sang some nasheeds at Coffeehouse, with the help of a tabla player.  Here he is working the crowd.  Earlier in the day, he performed traditional Uyghur songs at the Intercultural Festival, representing his culture at a campus-wide event.

Iris Divine

Heavy Metal band Iris Divine was featured at Coffeehouse with a performance that surprised everyone.  I think this was the first Muslim event I’ve been to with a hardcore heavy metal band headlining, and people actually enjoyed it!  To their credit, they’re a great band, check out their music online: Iris Divine

Luse Kannons

Local Richmond hip-hop heavyweight, Sirraj L.K., made an appearance at Coffeehouse to share new material.  Check out his music online too: Sirraj L.K.

Future Creators

Sirraj L.K. featured some children from a local Islamic academy to play drums on stage during his performance.  Before the show, the kids were excited about being at the event and seemed to have a great time throughout the night.

LiteBright

Ausim shows off his cool shirt, featured in the video for Islam Forever.  LED lights moved up and down like an equalizer to all sound/music nearby.  Check out the video if you still haven’t seen it:  Islam Forever

Jam Session

These students waited for their chance to jam on stage and finally got a chance at the very end of the show.  Students did a great job of sharing their creative talents with the community.  It helped that the audience was very supportive and receptive to the diverse genres of performances that came across the stage that night.  Coffeehouse is a great event, with an inspirational legacy that’s always had a profound impact on me and many others in the community.  InshaAllah, it continues to inspire others

What Comes Next

Mohsin is a childhood friend and old neighbor who recently got married in Dayton, OH.  My family roadtripped to the ceremony at this baller convention center.  It was pretty impressive, here’s a picture of Mohsin and his baby sister waiting to begin.

Papadoc

My dad was kickin back in the hotel room after being the first to get ready for the wedding.

Floralwear

Adil was apprehensive about me taking a picture of him draped in flowers for fear of it showing up on the internet.  You were right, sorry.  I just really like the picture!

Scarved For Life

At the Intercultural Festival (ICF) at VCU in Richmond, Zee is rockin one of these retro Palestinian-ish scarves.  I doubt purple represents the struggle, but…whatever.  That is a fresh beard lineup though, I must say.

Heads

Mohsin stands out with his traditional Punjabi turban at his ceremony.  Here, he’s surrounded by friends and family before the procession enters the main hall.

Saba So Bright

Inside the main hall, towards the end of the ceremony, friends from our table were comparing items from their gift boxes.  I guess Saba was happy about all the goodies

Smörgåsbord of Culture

ICF takes place annually in Monroe Park, on VCU’s main campus.  This year, they had performances all day on two separate stages.  There were also food vendors and display tables for cultures from all around the world.  Here, students dressed in some cultural garb enjoy a performance.  How many cultures can you spot?

Maaaaaaz!

This is Maaaaaaz!

Play On PD, Play On

Project Downtown (PD) is an initiative we started back when I was at VCU.  The basic concept was to make food to distribute to the needy on a weekly basis, whilst reaching out and connecting with people to build positive relationships.  Thankfully, we were able to brand it as something fresh, as you can see from the ridiculously dope gear Hemy is rockin here.  They still carry on the legacy today, which is amazing to see.  There’s alot of good in it, inshaAllah they’re able to keep it up

Midnight Sunset

My street, after the blizzard hit.  This was before we got the 28+ inches, there was a nice white blanket throughout the region regardless.  This was taken sometime around 2am.

All White Everything

My parents celebrated their 25th anniversary in January  We had some people over to help us enjoy the occasion.  As usual, the adults did their thing, the kids got together with my bro and got into some xbox, and Saad and I got to finally catch up like old times.  Saad chillin in my room here, while I show him how bright the flash on the camera can be.

HaBaby

I found this baby in my dining room during the anniversary dinner so I took her picture.  I think this was before we cut the cake, so she was watching someone wield a really big knife with epic concern.

Wild Winter

My neighbor’s house after one of the more mild snowstorms we had this winter. (Click image for large resolution)

Arsizzle

It’s become normal practice for friends to gather in Amer’s basement and chill, play poker, and enjoy one another’s company.  During the blizzard, we gathered less frequently, but still came together when we could to get that fix.  Arsalan came home for the weekend from college and dropped by to spend some time.

A Boy and His Books

One of the defining elements of Amer’s basement is his wall of books.  His collection spans multiple, full-size bookshelves with hundreds of books.  He’s one of the few people I know who actually reads!  Like…for fun.  It’s kind of incredible.

Laughter Rx

Ali drops by occasionally and graces us with his presence.  He stays pretty busy with medical school in Richmond, but manages to squeeze in some good chuckle time with his peeps.

K-Dawg

This is a shot from my 35mm SLR camera.  As you can see, there’s a huge difference in the quality and colors.  I havent edited the image at all, I like the feel of it as is.  Vintage Kamil, sporting his usual neutral glare.

Turkish Delight

We took a road trip to NYC in January for a concert at the Apollo, organized by IMAN.  It was an amazing show!  We got to hang in Brooklyn with Bilal for a few days and he took us to this great Turkish restaurant around his way.  Dahman intently gettin into the meal in this pic…

Dr. J

Dr. Jackson and Dr. Fareed came to the ADAMS Center for the Winter ALIM program recently.  I was asked to do photography for the event, this is one of the shots of Dr. Jackson teaching about….something?  I forgot.  It was heavy though.

You can view the rest of the event pictures on my Flickr page.

BK Bilal

You know when you’re traveling and you meet someone you’re staying with after a long absence, and they stay up really late to let you in, and you’re all just vibing and catching up, and there’s that happy/tranquil/satisfied feeling you get  because you’ve reached your destination, met with your friends/family and can finally rest?  This was in the midst of that type of encounter, at Bilal’s place in Brooklyn, around 5am.

Trainspotting

Amer, looking out for the train to Manhatten from Brooklyn.  Amer and I had a friendly photography competition, using pictures we both took during our NYC trip.  The theme was “Words” and we had a group of friends vote on the submissions.  Here’s my (winning) shot.  And Amer’s.  This is me rubbing in the fact that the vote was unanimous.

Dr. F

Dr. Muneer Fareed at the Winter ALIM event at ADAMS Center.  The ALIM summer intensive is an amazing program.  I had the privilege of attending 4 years ago and would highly recommend it to anyone that’s interested.  Dr. Jackson and Dr. Fareed are the core scholars for the program.  Here, Dr. Fareed is taking one of his usual pauses to let his gems marinate amongst the students.

Caught Red-Meated

The IMAN team hosted a lunch meeting with the volunteers from the IMAN DC initiative before the Apollo show at this nice restaurant in Harlem.  Amer’s sisters tagged along and sat in the corner…stuffing their faces.

I wasn’t able to take any pictures inside the Apollo of the event, but there were some real photographers doing their thing inside.  Here are some event pics from one of my favorite photographers:

Ridzdesign

Sunshine Vibe

Tyson came to visit in July.  We rode down to Richmond and got some studio time in with Sirraj LK.  This is Tyson writing his verses (on his iPhone!).  Rappers are so tech-savvy, follow him on Twitter!

Ice Cream Float

Sometime towards the end of June we took a trip to Smith Mountain Lake.  The weather was great.  This was around sunset, right when we got there.  First time I’ve ever seen this though, an Ice Cream Boat, playing loud jingles and driving around on the lake.  What an awesome idea.

Rotund Laughter

My brother and his friend are college-shopping.  This was inside the famous Rotunda at UVA in Charlottesville, after the campus tour.  The boys were enjoying a good chuckle afterwards, probably at the expense of some vital, yet awkward, part of American history on display.

Beware of Tourists.

Sigh, Umair.  I don’t even know what to say.  This was also at Smith Mountain Lake.  I think he was upset about us not having started cooking for dinner yet.  Who really cares, this is just hilarious because of all the…foliage.

Huckleberry Finah

Hanif was fishing off the dock at Smith Mountain Lake, during sunset.

VA 2 Cali

Tyson shares what he’s written so far and Bukhari is seriously reconsidering his own verse.  Well…probably.  Follow him on Twitter too!

Feel the Love!

We had a great tri-family dinner at Food Corner to celebrate Father’s Day.  Afterwards, my cousin, who was about to leave home to start college at the end of summer, was getting lots of attention from the adults.  Oh, he loved it.

Yusuf-mania!

Who would’ve thought, walking through the streets of DC during the 4th of July weekend, you would run into Yusuf Islam and Hamza Yusuf, together!  This is why I keep a camera handy

Fathers

After Father’s Day dinner, the fathers were surrounded by their wives and children in the parking lot.  There they stood, taking it all in, enjoying the time spent, reflecting on their blessings, and expressing their gratitudes.  Then again, this was like 6 months ago.  This could’ve just been where they were tired and ready to go home.  Hard to tell, really.  The former is a bit more poetic, I’ll stick with that.

From Boyz 2 Men

My dad tries to get the boys together for a group shot.  They grow ridiculously fast.  Just after this picture was taken, they each grew an additional 3 inches, and no longer fit in the frame.  This is the last known picture in which all shown individuals could actually fit into one shot.

I RED You

My aunt and uncle.  So cute.  This was also on Father’s Day, though with this color scheme this would also be pretty perfect for Valentine’s Day.  I’ll tell them you said that.

Punjabi Corner

A few last jokes to wrap up the night.  A few more golden rays to wrap up the day.  A few last words to wrap up the post.  Thank you

We had an awesome time though, the tournament was pretty amazing, very well-planned and HUGE.  Lots of different sports.  Our soccer team got crushed, but on the upside, we had more time to visit NYC and Philly after being eliminated.  Alot of these pictures are from Bilal Mannan’s DSLR, which I was messing around with.  He’s got a Digital Rebel XT, pretty nice.  Made my shots come out much nicer than I expected.  I also threw in some film shots I took from that weekend.

Victory Stance

Dahman and Bilal posing for the camera after we lost all of our games.  I took this laying down, hence the effect on the grass.  I think it looks pretty cool, that full-scale coverage.

Action Shot

We were trying to see if we could capture some action shots after the game.  I really like the way this one turned out, even though the focus is a little off.  This is def something I’d like to mess around with some more, we’ll see if I can improve this technique.

Notta Handme Down

My bro was resting after the first game at Subway.  This lens was pretty crisp, feelin it.

Antie & Unkle

This was actually from the Mother’s Day dinner at Food Corner, but I had the shot on another roll of film.  That’s one of the cool things about developing film, you see your pictures later and discover all the goodies that you forgot about.  I used to hate that, but now I really look forward to it.  It’s probably b/c I LOVE surprises

Bash In Defeat

Bashar wasn’t taking the elimination from the tournament so well.  Actually, I don’t think he cared, we were all just really tired after playing.  On the upside, we had alot more time to act like tourists in NYC.  There’s always an upside.

Coach Boy

Amer put together the whole trip and motivated the whole group to play in the tournament.  Big ups to him for putting in that effort.  This shot is part of a series of pre-game smiles and chuckles, while we were still suiting up.

No Shot

Naushad, aka No Shot, was excited about the tournament.  This is in front of Mandarin in Springfield, where we met up before heading up to Jersey.  Great restaurant!  He really does have no shot though.  It’s quite sad.

Father n Son

Ok, so they’re not really father and son, but this pose makes me feel like they could be.

Blamanan!

We had a great time meeting up with Bilal again.  Anytime we go up North, seems like we end up crossing paths.  Very awesome.  Thanks to him for letting me use his camera and for passing along the shots that came from it.

So, here are some pictures from some events and outings I’ve been keeping busy with over the past few months.  I re-visited VCU for their Coffeehouse and Year-End Picnic.  I also took a trip to Philly again for the EZ Conference.  More recently, I got a chance to hang out with some friends and family around the area, I’m putting up some of those shots too.  Enjoy   

Strawberry Sunshine

Farhan was conquering his fear of being in a boat by jumping in every canoe he could when we visited Old Town Alexandria’s harbor.  I love the color of the sunset in this picture.  I’m pretty surprised it actually came out with my film camera, didn’t think film was tight like that.  Sure showed me.  

Green Giant

Dahman loves that kafiyeh.  This is from Saad’s in Philly.  

Posh

Huma was chillin on that cool red couch at TT Lounge in Richmond.  Who else loves bubble tea?

Bilal #1

Bilal was visiting Philly for EZ and we met up.  He knew I was there b/c of a Twitter update, pretty coooool!  

Droppin Knowledge

M.O.T., during a recording session at Dahman’s makeshift studio in Richmond.  He’s 1/3 of Symmetry Of Sound, check em out on myspace!  I manage the group, so please bear with the shameless promotions.

Shawarma Monster

He may not look it, but boy can Amer eat!  Then again, who can really resist all that awesome food from Saad’s in Philly?

VT In Full Effect

Some of that new classic VT crew, chillin in Philly at EZ.  Good kids.  Thanks for posing.

A La Gigglioteca

I ripped the caption from my brother.  We visited Food Corner for Mother’s Day.  Shawn was having himself a nice, wholesome gigglefest while we all waited for food.

Giggle At Me!

More of the gigglefest from Food Corner.  Ali was really lettin those small, controlled chuckles let fly all over the place.

Frogger At Sea!

Farrukh whipped out his Canon Rebel XT for some photog action at Old Town Alexandria.  Is town spelled with an ‘e’ at the end in this case?  Old Towne Alexandria?  Maybe.  Faizan was there too.  With his Nikon D90.  I was using a 35mm, and Farhan…well, he opted for the camera phone.  Did him quite well actually.

VA Connect

VT kids rolled to VCU for the Coffeehouse.  The group brought some great spirit to the event.  They wanted to take this picture so we’d have something to remember them by.  Good call.

Yogurt Inspector

For those adventurous enough to try, you know how some of those yogurt drinks are really good, but others are really horrible?  I can never remember which brand is which, so I always hesitate before buying any at a restaurant.  Amer was facing a similar crisis I presume, at Saad’s in Philly.  By the way, the one he’s holding is the good kind (just look out for a bottle shaped the same way).

Good Ol Days

Farhan and I went to college together for a few years.  This reminds me of him back at VCU.  Apparently, it also reminds some people of the mass immigration of Europeans to America in the early 1900′s.  I can see that too.

Hey, Boy!

Amer was hanging out outside the Penn Museum after EZ, in Philly.  Those cherry blossoms made for such tempting picture opportunities.  

Let The Fun Begin

Saad just graduated from college.  Congrats!  Now, you get to join the real world.  Sorry, dude, un-congrats.  Him and his family also came out to Food Corner for some Mother’s Day/Gigglefest celebrations though.  Giggle on, m’brotha!

The Beast(s)

Look at that camera!  Actually, you’d prolly have a better view if it wasn’t covered in that plastic bag Faizan used to protect it from the rain.  Meanwhile, Farhan was dominating his *free* scoop of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.  It was free scoop day at Ben & Jerry’s, and we happened to be near one in Old Town(e) Alexandria, so we hopped into the line and grabbed us some.

The S Effect in Effect

Sami a.k.a. The S Effect, was the official photographer for our trip to Philly for EZ.  We actually have the same camera (the one he’s holding).  Sometimes it’s nice to just sit back and chill instead of trying to constantly take pictures.  Having that film camera forces me to be more picky with my shots, so I get to spend more time and energy straight chillin.

I spent a good part of this particular week at Georgetown University.  They had two really amazing conferences that I tried to capture.  The first was a conference on the American Mosque in the 21st Century and the second was on the World of Deaf Muslims.  Look out for the captions to see which event the pictures are from.

My New Friend

The Global Deaf Muslim (GDM) conference was sponsored by the very generous volunteers at Georgetown University, like Imam Yahya Hendi (top right) and Sarah Kalimullah (bottom center), and also by volunteers from around the region, like Taqwa Mahdi (bottom left).  Here, the organizers share a moment with each other while taking a break in the back of the room.  

Bright Lights, Brighter Smiles

Volunteers relax after setting up the lunch table for the GDM conference.

Life and Death

For those who have never visited the Georgetown campus, you may be as surprised as I was to find a cemetary right in the center of campus.  It’s surrounded on all sides by tall dorm buildings.  The contrast is unreal, I wish I could explain how strong this image was for me.  Maybe this picture can help you to get an idea.

Silent Anticipation

The volunteers set out lunch and patiently wait for the attendees to start getting food at the GDM conference.  The volunteers were both deaf and hearing, seeing them try to interact as naturally as possible was really heartwarming, especially since most hearing attendees didn’t know any sign language.

See Me, Hear Me

Taqwa (right) was speaking during the GDM conference while an interpreter signed for the deaf members of the audience.  

Last-Minute Prep

Taqwa was finishing up her speech before she had to go up and speak at the GDM conference.

Def Poetry

Renato performed some Deaf poetry for the attendees at the GDM conference, alongside one other brother.  They chose not to translate the poem, so I don’t really know what they were saying, but it looked really interesting.  There was alot of movement, so this was the only picture I have that wasn’t completely blurred.

Asma Attack!

Asma Rehman (Left) is the VP of MSA National.  She, along with other key community figures, made an appearance at the GDM conference to support the Deaf Muslim community.

Visual Presentation

Deaf student, Bree Weber, gave a presentation about her experiences growing up deaf and her journey to Islam.  An interpreter was on-site to translate for Bree as she signed.  This was part of a panel at the GDM conference that was focused on sharing experiences from deaf and hearing parents and students about growing up or raising children deaf and Muslim.  

Fresh to Def

Abdullah, a deaf student from Gallaudet University, was hanging out in the back of the room while waiting for lunch to start so he could serve food to attendees of the GDM conference.

PhD Bloc

Dr. Sulayman Nyang, Professor of African Studies at Howard University,  and Dr. Iqbal Unus, Director of The Fairfax Institute, were part of a panel discussion on the history of the American Mosque, with a glimpse into the future of this growing institution.  

G

Mufti figured, why not act like a G, when in a garage, in Georgetown?  

Dual Action

During the panel discussion at the GDM conference, when a hearing panelist spoke, the deaf students in the room, and on the panel, would look to the interpreter to fill them in on the discussion.  

The Two From New Jerus

An Imam, with a deaf son, visited the GDM conference from New Jersey and was a part of the panel discussion.  Here, as he’s speaking, his son plays with the microphone.  After receiving a cochlear implant, his son’s hearing has been fully restored.

Da Imam

Imam Yahya Hendi, Imam of Islamic Society of Frederick, MD and Muslim Chaplain at Georgetown University, was the keynote speaker for the GDM conference.  He supported the deaf community immensely with his committment to helping organize this conference.  Here, he’s pictured watching the lunch line, making sure everyone is being served.

Watch Closely

Bree (center), surrounded by fellow Deaf students from Gallaudet University, communicates with a friend through the use of American Sign Language (ASL).  Bree currently serves as the VP of the Deaf Muslim Student Association at Gallaudet.

Success!

Bader (left) is the current President of the MSA at Gallaudet.  Here, he’s chatting with other deaf students after a successful day at the GDM conference.  

The Man Behind It All

Nash is the man who started the whole Deaf Muslim awareness movement.  He’s the President of GDM and a great activist for the causes.  Anyone interested in contributing or volunteering with future projects should email Nash, president@globaldeafmuslim.org.

P.S. Please pray for my camera.  I dropped it and it broke.  It is in need of repair, pray for its speedy recovery.  Thanks.

Under the Lights

Sarwar stands on a sidewalk, waiting to cross the street in Fairfax Corner.

Fresh To Death

I got this shot of Wali while we were waiting with our Youth Group to leave from a standup comedy performance by Dean Obeidallah, at American University.

Rouge

Chillin at Fairfax Corner, with some green tea.

Daddio

At my uncle’s house.  My dad was sippin on some chai.

Elegance

It was extremely cold that night, and my mom was very layered.  Here she is, enjoying the comedy show at AU.

Study Buddy

My brother was supposed to be studying.  I’m pretty positive he was really just using Facebook…or Wikipedia.

Warm Reflections

Sami was over at our house, getting pwnd in Madden.  I managed to get a picture of him while beating him simultaneously.  Skillz.

Cold sarWAR

At Borders, chillin wit Zightai.

The Dean

Standup comedian, Dean Obeidallah, visits AU in DC for a show, following a screening of a film about Muslims Standup Comics.  

Iris Divine

Farhaad and I hit up a local metal concert, organized by Iris Divine.  Check out their music, it’s great stuff.

Test

I was trying to demonstrate to Mufti how the aperture works on the camera.  Looks like it worked out aright.

Antipatico(cake)

A little girl refusing to play patty cake…unheard of.  Seeing is believing my friends.

Happy Bday Pops

We celebrated my dad’s birthday at home a few weeks ago.  That cake rocked.

Jughead

Kani was trying to shield himself from having his picture taken.  This only made the shot more entertaining.  Nice try.

Ohhh, Dwight.

Best show ever.

Capture That Moment!

Everyone was desperately trying to record someone…doing something…I don’t quite remember what it was anymore.  

Latte or Frappucino?

As deeply contemplative as this seems, my cousin was really just trying to figure out what to order off the menu at the Daily Grind Cafe, where the event was held.

Cafe Style

Rockstar, Raef, orders some hot chocolate.  He’s got a new comic blog up too, check it out.

The Debut

Ayyaz makes his Sawa debut with some poems he read off of his iPod.  This was before the Jim Jones’, “Ballin”, parody.

Peekaboo

I think this girl’s name was Fatima.  She was my favorite performer from the entire event.  I really enjoyed her poetry.  Rock on