Ayesha Abdol-Hamid, 23, is a professional photographer.

She was born in Swindon into a Welsh-Pakistani family and it’s her difficult journey to adulthood which inspired her career choice.

Photography was her way of telling stories, especially about her own community.

Ayesha moved to Skewen, near Neath, when she was five where she experienced “quite extreme” Islamophobic abuse.

“We were basically the only non-white people in the village,” she says.

“The first day we moved there I had a black eye from another boy.”

She moved to Cardiff with her mum and says she immediately felt the difference.

“Before, I could see people staring at me but here I felt invisible,” she says.

“I was just used to people staring at me all the time.”

Ayesha began wearing a hijab at the age of 14 over the summer holidays.

“For a girl to start wearing it in a non-Muslim school it’s quite difficult,” she says.

“It’s another thing for people to look at. When I went back I did notice people looking at me.”

She said she found herself having to explain to teachers the significance of the hijab and allowances made in the school rules after she was pulled out of class and asked to explain her choice of hijab colour.

“That was a very early battle but that’s what we do every day,” she says.

“For me it was so normal because I was brought up to fight for everything I do.”

She went on to study at the University of South Wales and her confidence grew, with the help of a tutor.

“There was a tutor there who had a good understanding of Islam and when I said I was worried about what people might think, he told me not to care and just show people who I am,” she says.

“We are just normal people, doing these things, forget that stereotype of us being stuck at home and house slaves.”

Ayesha specialises in Muslim weddings, she draws on her own experiences and thinks her own beliefs help her understand what couples want.

Though she hasn’t seen the same abuse in Cardiff that she experienced further west, there is still some stigma to overcome.

“There are still people who are shocked when they hear what I do for a living,” she says.

“We’re just humans. Yes, some of us have a religion but that’s just one part of us.”