It's a sleepy Sunday afternoon, and I step onto the set for an International Women’s Day beauty shoot in a tiny studio tucked away in leafy Carlton, Melbourne. I meet the photographer, models, and make-up artist, and suddenly I am struck by something - absolutely everyone, including myself, the models, the makeup artists, and even the photographers, we’re all South Asian Australian women! 

It’s strange to be in a professional setting, let alone a creative one, and to be surrounded by a crew of South Asian women. 'Professionalism', in corporate culture, often becomes a coded language for white favouritism in the workplace. The bias mostly privileges the values of white and western employees and leaves people of colour behind. It isn't something I ever consciously picked up on before today, but as soon as I stepped on the set, a wave of comfort washed over me. 

The day began with shoot organisers Tanmai and Sumana introducing themselves with unabashed enthusiasm for our presence. We all immediately formed a rapport and started talking about our journeys leading up to the day. Tanmai and Sumana, the shoot organisers, shoot me glowing cheeky smiles as they tell me the origin story of the shoot. 

 "Well, it started with a thirst trap." 

A social media content creator, model, and trained physiotherapist, Sumana received an Instagram DM from her fellow creator Tanmai Khairnar. The two got to talking. They then approached the Australian underwear brand Wear Nala for some samples, and to their surprise, the company proposed to fund their entire shoot! 

"I sent a picture through where all these beautiful women were showing their skin. I thought, 'how amazing would it be to have our features [in the shoot] instead'?”

“Our whole lifetimes, we haven’t seen ourselves represented in media, in magazines, in advertisements - we have never seen brown bodies,” says Sumana. 

Baring our bodies is not something South Asian women are generally permitted to do, and if anything, we've previously received extreme backlash from our communities for doing so. But Tanmai and Sumana see this as an opportunity to turn things around. 

“Even in Indian films, you would only see light-skinned girls…so when I was young, I dreamed of painting myself white to be part of these industries,” Sumana reflects. 

There is a shared pain on set over the shame, fear, and pressure to be in your body and conduct yourself differently to be accepted by your culture, society, and conforming layers of yourself. Despite this, there is a wonderful optimism in the room as each woman shares how they came to apply for the shoot, receiving encouragement from friends, parents, or partners. 

“Our moms don’t know what we are doing,” jokes Sumana. “They know we are doing a photoshoot, but not in our underwear!”

“I think challenging norms is the first step, you'll upset them but eventually they will come around - I am sure every girl here has a story where she has challenged her family and eventually they have come around.”

And despite the perfectly laid out set guaranteeing the makings of an aesthetically pleasing shot, the two creators assure their goal at the end of the day is to have more than just a “pretty Instagram picture”. 

"I wanted them to see that there is a whole variety of women out there with a diversity of looks and experiences. We want the shoot to support as many women as [it] can.”

Their commitment to uplifting others is evident in their decision to invite any and all South Asian Australian women to be part of a photoshoot, regardless of experience. Safe to say, they were overwhelmed by the number of respondents.  

The women all looked radiant in the bold choice of barely there intimates paired with a gorgeous natural styling of hair and makeup. But beneath the setting spray, giggles, and Beyonce music on set, there is a deep sense of empowerment as all women in this room have not waited to be deemed qualified by any existing system/beauty standard but declaring that - we are the standard, we are beautiful regardless of colour or shape. 

Soumi was one of the women who applied and got invited to be a part of the shoot. For her, this shoot is an opportunity to raise the bar for South Asian plus-size women's representation. “I couldn't get clothes for myself in beautiful designs and coming to Australia has changed that for me. I love living here, and I want to stay here because people don't judge you for your size or what you are wearing. I want to inspire more South Asian plus-size women."

Even photographer Ishani Buff, at 19 years old, was not hired for fashion week last year because she was deemed too young and assumed inexperienced. "People think I am young, foreign and they don't know how to place me." 

But rather than be defeated by this rejection, she rocked up with her camera to the event and shot the runway anyway. As a result, this year she is not only going to the Sydney fashion week to shoot! 

It is remarkable that all of the women on set bar Ishani, did not start out pursuing creativity in their careers until now, all qualified in entirely different careers. This is a nod to how we, as South Asian women, have been hemmed in by expectations, people-pleasing, and hangover fear from the instability our parents faced as migrants. 

Baring bodies is a quiet act of defiance against the internal and external systemic oppression we experience as brown women, so often our body is not our own to bare, control, or enjoy.

As I pack up to leave, I'm reminded about how remarks about women's bodies and conduct can be so insidious and casual. The studio owner comments, "when they rang me about a South Asian women's shoot, I was expecting a little more Bollywood, not…" he trails off and his eyes point towards the women parading in underwear to Rihanna, beating his stereotype of what South Asian women should look like. I reflect as I walk out: this is exactly why we need this shoot - people won’t know who we are unless we show them.

Connect with the shoot creators: Tanmai and Sumana. 

Meet the writer: Casini currently works as a Producer for a digital agency in Melbourne. She loves all that Melbourne has to offer culture, arts and dance wise and is a hawk for the latest events, gigs and festivals. A keen dancer herself she has trained in Bharatnatyam as well as Afro dance, Jamaican dancehall and currently brazilian samba! Reach out to her via Linkedin.

Credits

Photographers and videographers: Ishani & Lilly Ellerton

Models: Saloni, Seraphina, Somi, Juhi

Creative directors/models: Tanmai, Sumana

Make up artist: Hasini

Liked this article? Check out: Make The Space: A call for the Australian industry to do better.