Photographer Hark1karan on his favourite shot: a Punjabi family portrait with dirtbikes in Southall

London-based photographer and artist Hark1karan has shared the story behind one of his favourite photographs — a family portrait taken in Southall, west London, home to one of the UK's largest Punjabi communities.

The image was captured in March 2021 while Hark1karan was searching for subjects for his short documentary about Southall residents. He met two brothers who run a car repair business — one of them owned a dirtbike at the time, and the photographer attempted to capture him performing a wheelie. A second brother later joined with his own quad bike, used for off-road riding.

An unplanned family gathering

As the photographer got to know the brothers, their father explained how his passion for bikes and cars had been passed down through the family, while their mother offered tea and snacks, as is common practice when visiting a Punjabi household. It was in that moment that the idea arose to photograph the whole family together. Although a third brother wasn't present, the father wheeled out his own motorbike, completing what became a natural, unforced family portrait.

Hark1karan has stayed in touch with the family since and returned to photograph them several times, including on the day of the youngest brother's wedding, when the siblings performed doughnuts and burnouts with their bikes and car early in the morning.

The photographer says his broader aim is to document everyday life within Punjabi and Sikh communities, highlighting a side of British life that often goes unseen. His first book, Pind, grew from a similar desire, taking him to Punjab, India, to record rural life for diaspora audiences. He is currently documenting the daily life of another Sikh family in west London.