We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Parvathi Kumar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Parvathi, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
The short answer is: keep creating, without any judgement! Ignore those critical voices that come to us externally, but more often than not internally, from our own head! Continue with your favorite art forms or dare to fail at something new! Never be afraid! Creativity is about experimentation, and making what we think are “mistakes” might actually lead us to new and original directions.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Something about photography “clicked” (no pun intended) in me when I was a teen when my mother taught me how to use a fully manual film camera, the Minolta x700. I simply got hooked! While I understood the technical aspects of cameras and lenses, it was more about observing and composing that I enjoyed. I also did black & white darkroom work in high school which gave me a strong foundation in understanding the medium. I never had formal training in photography. I was self-taught, taking my camera everywhere and learning as I experimented. It became a serious hobby and passion. I ended up studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and working as an IT software engineer for 10 years, but photography remained with me throughout. After my two sons were born, I resigned from the IT world and started my own freelance photography business in 2010, which I continue doing today. I do portraits of families and individuals, cover events, and photo book design.
However, my favorite genre of photography all along has been street photography, though I didn’t quite know the term until much later. I was always fond of wandering in cities and any new destination, to explore and observe and capture interesting situations, moments and people. It is certainly a difficult and challenging genre, since the moments I aim to capture are fleeting, never to be repeated. It requires one to be fully present, in a heightened state of pure awareness, to be able to anticipate and capture the right moment. It is fraught with trial and error, but the process itself is what makes street photography compelling. As I roam and shoot, I am Present, totally in the moment, watching Life as it happens Now. And then, once in a while, with practice, patience, faith, and a bit of luck, various elements come together, and a satisfying image is achieved.
I have been fortunate to extensively exhibit my work in NJ and abroad in both group and solo shows, and sharing all that I do in monthly newsletters with the many people I have met on my artistic journey. This has all led to a new upcoming solo show of my street photography, and it will be my first time exhibiting in an art museum! I invite you to come and see my work at the Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, NJ from May 19 to September 1. There will be an opening reception as well on Sunday, May 19 from 2–5pm. For more information and listings of my many exhibits past and present, please go to my website: http://www.parvathikumar.com/Exhibits.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
- Practice your passion, but also practice Presence. This grounds you, and helps navigate and plan how you wish to pursue your ideas and inspirations.
- Find mentors, whether in-person or through books or videos, for both your preferred art genre or career area, and for your spiritual health. The two go hand in hand.
- Find a community of like-minded practitioners or friends who support you and give constructive feedback. There is much to share and learn from one another.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
In terms of my art journey in photography, “The War of Art” by Stephen Pressfield played a big role. Regardless of what one pursues, whether it’s an art form, a small business, cooking, or gardening, he guides the reader in understanding that Resistance (the negative voice in the head) is a natural occurrence and we must rise above it. Never allow the voice of Resistance, whether internal or external (those who try to squelch our dreams), stop you from doing what your heart truly desires. He also explains and compares the amateur versus the professional, and goes into some of the spiritual aspects of pursuing one’s calling: it is actually a Divine Calling, and to not further creation and creativity is an act of self-will. Two other books which follow Pressfield and which greatly helped me are Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now” and Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way”. All three books overlap in teachings, and have been of great support, deepening my understanding and practice of what it means to be Present and creative.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.parvathikumar.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parvathi_kumar_photography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParvathiKumarPhotographyLLC
Image Credits
All images taken by Parvathi Kumar. ©Parvathi Kumar Photography LLC
