New Exchange Radio #4: Isha Shah Returns!

Photo by Karan Teli

Isha Shah is a photographer, videographer + educator who’s easily one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever met. From touring with acts like Lewis Capaldi, Jessie Reyez, Mahalia, and Enter Shikari, to building a unique approach to portraiture; Isha’s creativity is equally relentless as it is boundless. Beyond her visual skills, Isha is also a talented orator, especially across social media, where she never backs down from speaking her mind. 

In many ways, this has led her to become a vital voice in the creative world, calling out bullshit whenever it rears its ugly head. She’s particularly adamant about speaking out on the numerous ways in which creatives are exploited for their services, a topic that many find to be a difficult area to approach for fear of retribution (the industry term is “blacklisted”). Hand-on-heart, Isha is the kind of person who inspires me because for as honest as I like to believe I am, I’ll see someone like her and think to myself “man, we all have a long way to go.”

Together we chat about Isha’s “why’s”, and where this fire within comes from and we inadvertently talk about the horrid ways in which women, women-identifying people, and non-binary people are overlooked for jobs within creative spaces.

Season 6 of The New Exchange Podcast will be premiering in May. Just a reminder, these radio broadcasts can only be streamed via Spotify. However, full episodes of the podcast (new and old) are available where ever you stream podcasts (Apple, Google, Deezer, you get the point).

Be sure to check out Isha’s website here to learn more about her and to also follow her on Instagram and Twitter.