Parvathi Kumar is a New Jersey-based photographer and multidisciplinary artist of South Indian heritage who was born and raised in eastern Canada. Introduced to manual SLR photography by her mother as a teenager, she developed her practice through early darkroom experience and more than three decades of independent study. After earning degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and working in software development, Parvathi established herself as a full-time freelance photographer in 2010.

Working across street, documentary, fine art, commercial photography, mixed media, and cyanotype, Parvathi resists a single mode of expression. Her photographs record gestures and interactions within public space while considering how individual lives contribute to a broader social experience. She is the author and photographer of Everyday Blackness: Celebrating Exceptional Women, published in 2021, a series combining portraits and text. Parvathi has received awards and international recognition for her street photography, and her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally. Her wider practice includes portraiture, event photography, graphic design, and photobook design.