About Tanvir Azad

I am Bangladeshi by birth. Currently living in Toronto, Canada. Over the years I have lived in five different countries on four different continents. As of now, I have traveled to 33 countries. This has allowed me to see that no matter how different we are, at the end of the day we are all the same. I try to pull my experiences from different cultures and traditions into my art.

A few years ago, I was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and depression. Most of the countries I have lived in in the past would consider depression as a sign of weakness and talking about it as a taboo. I wanted to use fine art photography to break the mold and make it ok to discuss emotional and mental health issues.

This photography series allows me to use philosophy, art history, and world history to speak about the evolution of ethics and morality. It allows me to speak about social and cultural issues that have plagued us since the beginning and how existential challenges are exasperated by our evolutionary psychology and behavior.

The primary objective of all of my work is to showcase the cyclical nature of human history and speak to the duality of our perceived self vs. true self.

Also, I want to teach my kids to pursue their dreams, no matter how absurd they may be. Teach them to speak their mind and not be swayed by the opinions of others. 

Lastly, I hope my work will speak for me when I can no longer speak for myself.