I liked Imran straight away. He has an energy and “can do” attitude that I imagine serves him very well in his work as an entrepreneur. What I liked even more was how openly and affectionately he spoke about his family and his faith, and how central they are to everything he does.

Imran’s Grandfather came to Middlesbrough from Pakistan in the 1950s answering a call to help rebuild after the Second World War. His father ran a market stall selling clothing, and Imran has spent his whole life in the town.

Once in employment, he had an impulsive moment that led him to walk out of a well-paid job. He described going home to his new wife Anila, fearful of her reaction to his sudden decision — but instead of panicking she believed in him completely and gave him her full support. That was the start of his entrepreneurial journey.

Listening to him, it struck me that the qualities he attributes to others — his grandparents’ courage in arriving somewhere new, Anila’s faith in him at that early turning point — are also the qualities he has carried forward into his own life. Imran spoke as someone who knows exactly where his strength comes from.

Jude turned down a place at Oxford for a convent — then found obedience a step too far. She's one of my ten sitters for Drawn to the Boro, and the first thing I noticed was her quiet authority. I think if I'd been a pupil in her class, I'd have behaved myself! She speaks with precision and clarity, but she also has a sense of humour, which blossoms once she's worked you out.

Jude was fostered as a baby and raised Catholic. A true Celt, she discovered later in life that she also carries Ashkenazi Jewish and North African heritage - roots she hadn't known were there. Bright enough for Oxford, she chose a convent instead. She spent most of her career teaching children in Middlesbrough and, in her retirement, writes poetry.

When I sat with her, I found myself listening to a life that had grown in many directions - roots that had been hidden, branches that had been chosen, some that had been pruned, all of it living and flourishing. The tree-of-life motif that has shaped the early stages of her portrait felt inevitable from the moment we began talking.

Drawn to the Boro is my series of ten portraits of people of Middlesbrough, a town built on migration. 

Drawn to the Boro is supported by Borderlands, the Creative People and Places programme for Middlesbrough and Redcar & Cleveland, one of a number of national programmes funded by Arts Council England.