One of the reasons we, as a society, remain stuck in the past is our refusal to view culture as a living, breathing, evolving entity. We cling to a version of what it once was, without accounting for the many factors that shape it, with time being one of the most crucial.

Culture should be treated like a child. It moves through multiple stages, and each version of it is exciting, unique, and, most importantly, different. Expecting culture to remain unchanged is like expecting a child to be the same person they were at six months old: it’s simply impossible.

But of course, South Asian parents are often seen as struggling to accept their children growing up into independent individuals. The idea of having self-sufficient children with a strong sense of self can feel unsettling to many. Their instinct to guide or control usually comes from a place of love, care, and what is often considered a core pillar of South Asian households: a deep sense of devotion.

However, it can become suffocating to navigate a life that feels like a force field, where one wrong step might set off a million alarms. Perhaps that’s why so many of us choose to build lives of our own; to be part of a culture we actively shape for ourselves; one that opens doors instead of closing them.

Humza Syed’s photoshoot (me)HEND(i) taps into this shared sense of rebellion, the urge to break free that surfaces in almost every young person’s life. It reimagines henna, or mehendi, in unconventional ways, placing intricate, colourful motifs across the model’s face rather than limiting them to the hands, feet, or hair.

Across the series, nine models are adorned with South Asian jewellery, while their hair and makeup deliberately subvert the kinds of outfits typically paired with mehendi. Traditionally reserved for auspicious, celebratory occasions like weddings, often accompanied by a heavy trousseau of classic desi attire, mehendi here is untethered from its usual context. By disrupting these norms, Syed offers a glimpse into an alternate world of possibilities, where tradition is not abandoned but reimagined on its own terms.

“We are taught from a young age that pursuing anything even closely related to the arts is a big NO. I couldn’t live like that. I dropped out of college. I left my family home and chose to live the life of a black sheep for my own happiness," Syed says while explaining the motivation behind the photoseries.

The series feels dystopian, like it so often does in our tightly packed society where even side-stepping can be enough enough to break the link that holds the entire structure together.

The project, '(me)HEND(i)', a play on the word 'mehendi'. 'Hend' is a middle English word which also means ‘to take control’, transforming the name to also mean ‘Me control I’, making the name a sort of manifesto. Culture was never meant to be just inherited or static. It lives through the people who carry it, and it evolves with them. Your culture can be represented through you in whichever form you want it to be because you are in control of your narrative. 

Credits:

Creative Director/ Stylist

Humza Syed @humzadeyz

Photographer

Oliver Barile @oliver.barile

Models

Mabel Maung @myanmartian

Jaseel Moreno @juixyjaseel 

Dakota Davis @thedivinefeminine11 

Manisha Rohoo @manisharho 

Surayya Seydi @rayyaseydi

Tasun Champion @tas.unn 

Ayden Pol @freewisdm 

Zoheb Roshan @zohebibi 

Stephen Kostewicz @papoysk

MUA

Andee Korpics @ANDEEEEEEEK

Sophia Cetta @sophiacetta 

Kolten Yeck @ysthetics

Hair

Kylie Lefkowitz @crownedbykylie

Tianna Michelle - Assistant @tspaintedtale

Henna

Mayisha soho @abontii.henna

Alina Howlader @hennahighs

Rinom Chowdhury @rinominator

Follow Humza Syed on Instagram here.

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