About Parvathi Kumar
Parvathi Kumar was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and grew up in Montreal, Quebec. She began exploring photography when she was fourteen years old, when her mother began teaching her the basics of film photography. Kumar studied Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and worked at IT firms in Denmark, Connecticut and New Jersey. Kumar often finds inspiration for her photographs through her travels. A series of photographs she took in India were featured at the Center for Spiritual Living Morristown as a solo show in 2011. Through her photographs, Kumar hopes to treat viewers to images rich with beauty and emotion. She aims to create images that tell stories and is drawn to portraiture. Her main photography interests include travel, fine art, and portraiture. Ten of her works were chosen for display at Overlook Hospital’s Cancer Center as part of their “Healing Arts and Global Therapy” program in 2012. In addition to photography, her interests include Classical Guitar and Bharata Natyam, a type of South Indian classical dance. She is a certified yoga instructor and therapist at Gurukul Yoga in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
Artist Statement
“I am a Fine Art Photographer. My tools, modalities, and genres of photography vary and I enjoy them all. I was raised on manual film photography and darkroom work, giving me a good foundation and understanding of light control and behavior which has fed into the digital era which I embrace. I use both digital cameras and the iPhone, experimenting with a myriad of apps to go above and beyond an initial capture. I am also fond of traditional or alternative processes such as Cyanotypes, and have been able to combine photos taken digitally with this historic form of printing. I enjoy subject matters of all sorts, from candid public photography (street), abstracts, nature, architecture, portraiture and more. I also do documentary work, an important application of the camera in preserving memories, stories, or spreading awareness and insight. I make the best of all photography has to offer in this one wild and precious human lifetime.”
– Parvathi Kumar
New Brunswick Art Salon 2023 — Photography: “Refracted: Shade and Light”
New Brunswick Art Salon 2022 — Photography: “Interchangeable Lens: Frame of Mind”
Education
M.S. Computer Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ
B. Eng Electrical Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
Recent Exhibitions
| 2022 | Postcards from Europe, Great Britain | Art at the Arb, Cambridge, England |
| Phillips Mill Photo Show | New Hope, PA | |
| This is Photography | Unique Photo, Philadelphia, PA | |
| Your Body Belongs to You | Les Alizes, St Gilles Croix de Vie, France | |
| 2021 | The Print Swap | Indian Photo Festival, Hyderabad, India |
| Mostly Monochrome | WoArt Online Exhibit | |
| Solas Studio Fall Showcase | Solas Studio, Manhattan, NY | |
| ShutterHub Open 20/21 | Gallery Cafe at St. Margaret’s House, London, UK | |
| Rooted | Greenly Art Space, Signal Hill, CA | |
| The Print Swap | Foley Gallery, Manhatten, NY | |
| Every Women Biennial | Superchief Gallery NFT, Manhattan, NY | |
| Up Shot! | Up Arts Incubator, Lansdale, PA | |
| The Print Swap | Laurent Gallery, Melbourne, Australia | |
| Holi Art Exhibition | Bridge Art Gallery, Bayonne, NJ | |
| Through the Eye | Woman’s Work Art, Poughkeepsie, NY | |
| No Boundaries | Virginia Quilt Museum, Harrisonburg, VA | |
| 2020 | International Digital Kunst Festival P.S. I Love You | Stuttgart, Germany (online) Hamilton Street Gallery, Bound Brook, NJ |
| Time to Think (Encore 2020) Foci | Festival Pil’ours, Saint Gilles Croix de Vie, France Oyster Point Gallery, Red Bank, NJ | |
| seeingWomen 2020 | Chateau de LaLande, Crozon-sur-Vauvre, France | |
| Quarantine! Pretty in Pink | Wanderlife Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (online) Treat Gallery, NYC (online) | |
| Everyday Delight Focus Forward | West Dorset, England Visual Arts Center of NJ (online) | |
| The Print Swap | BBA Gallery, Berlin, Germany | |
| Until We Meet Again Working from Home | Treat Gallery, NYC (online) Shutter Hub, UK (online) | |
| Postcards from Great Britain Everyday Delight | Hotel Lion d’Or, Haarlem, The Netherlands Free Space Project, London, England | |
| Living Image | The Halide Project, Philadelphia, PA |
Awards & Recognition
- November 2022, three Honorable Mentions in Street and Women Seen by Women categories, 19th Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers, Worldwide Photography Gala Awards + Barcelona exhibit
- August 2021, Bronze Award, Camelback Gallery’s 2021 Artist Invitational International Juried Competition
- July 2021, USPS Art Project Newsletter feature/spotlight on me as a “Mega-Collaborator”
- June 2021, Best in Show Award, Up Shot! Photo Exhibit, Up Arts Incubator, Lansdale, PA
- April 2020, Honorable Mention in the Professional Open Category, 15th Edition of the Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers, Worldwide Photography Gala Awards
- November 2019, Overall Professional Award, 5th Annual Somerset County Photo Contest October 2018, 1st Place & 2nd Place Awards, 4th Annual Somerset County Photo Contest July 2018, accepted into the Sedona Summer Colony Artists Residency, Sedona, AZ
- April 2015, 1st Place Winner, Smartphone Photo Contest, 70 South Gallery, Morristown, NJ January 2014, Honorable Mention Award, Alfa Art Gallery, New Brunswick, NJ
- July 2013, Best in Show Award, Alfa Art Gallery, New Brunswick, NJ (Millburn-Short Hills Arts Center juried group exhibit “A Summer Pavilion”)
- April 2013, Award of Excellence, J&J Corporate Gallery, New Brunswick, NJ (Millburn-Short Hills Arts Center juried group exhibit “Hidden Harmony”)
Published Work
- August 2021, Free Film: June 2020, photo book publication by Worthless Studios, NYC: film photos by globally selected photographers to document events of June 2020.
- July 2021, Aeonian Magazine Issue No. 5 (publication dedicated to alternative and experimental photography).
- February 2021, Everyday Blackness: Celebrating Exceptional Women, a self-published art documentary photo book. Select portraits were featured in 14 national group exhibits (see list here). A solo show of all 25 portraits is slated for February – May 2022 at the Visual Arts Center, Summit, NJ.
- August 2020, documentary images published online in AnOther Magazine and Another Man
Instagram feed. - September 2019, art photo featured in the British Journal of Photography article online about the
Street/Form exhibit in the Rotterdam, Netherlands’ Pow!Wow! Festival. - April 2018, art photo selected for Life Framer, Editor’s Pick, Urban Life theme.
Artist Website: https://www.parvathikumar.com/
Contact: pkumar@parvathikumar.com
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