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Fish And Chip Shop Owner Photographs Every Customer For Unique Photo Collection

A fish and chip shop owner has created an eclectic photo collection of his clientele, after tirelessly photographing his customers over the past two years.

Kazem Hakimi has photographed nearly 400 people since he started his project, called OX4, in 2014 to celebrate Oxford’s diversity.

Regulars - Mr Hakimi asks people if he can take their pictures

Whenever anyone walks into his fish and chip shop in Oxford he offers to take their portrait using his trusty Nikon D700 camera while they wait for their meal.

The 56-year-old has now photographed a range of people from tattooed punks to nuns, hippies and dog lovers and plans to continue.

Snap happy - chip shop owner snaps his customers on his trusty Nikon D700

The father-of-nine, who has been taking pictures for the past 30 years, said: “I love the community so I wanted keep a record of it. Most of the people I’ve photographed are my friends.

"I am always photographing bits and bobs but I am always at the shop - so I thought I would start doing a project with my customers.

"Customers come in for their fish and chips and they normally laugh when I ask to take a picture of them, but after explaining - some people don’t - but most people say yes.

"That is the advantage of knowing my customers very well, they know me and I have a loving relationship with all of them.”

Diverse - Mr Hakimi’s project celebrates diversity in Oxford

Mr Hakimi, originally from Iran, moved to the UK in 1974 to study engineering at the then Oxford Polytechnic.

After falling in love with the city he decided to stay and has run his takeaway, the Oxford Fish Shop, for the past 28 years. He puts his love of the area down to his loyal customer base.

“We get customers from all walks of life and I love them,” he said.

“Everyone knows me and I have a loving relationship with my customers - everyone’s pictures show something different about them and I want to show that relationship through the portrait.

"The more you look at the picture, the more you learn about their beauty and kindness.

"It is an ongoing project I will just keep doing, I have between 300 and 400 pictures so far of different people and have made them into a little book.”

Since he showed his pictures to his customers, they have been pressing him to show them to the public, and Mr Hakimi is now considering publishing the album and holding an exhibition of the photographs.

(Pictures: SWNS)