ZiiP Foundation

21/11/2025

Under the mentorship of the legendary Alexander Petrosyan (), a delegation of young Russian photographers documented Varanasi — accompanied by , who represented ZiiP Foundation during this cultural exchange.

The final evening brought together powerful voices in contemporary Indian photography. Shanth Kumar presented his latest body of work alongside fellow young practitioners Shantanu Das and Pradeep Chandra , each bringing a unique visual language to the conversation.

This event marked a meaningful conclusion to our cultural exchange initiative—strengthening ZiiP Foundation’s commitment to supporting Indian talent and fostering collaboration with global photographic practitioners.



Photo Courtesy: Deepti Dandekar

09/09/2025

When rituals become living archives. 🔥🌾📷

Bangalore-based documentary photographer Smitha Tumuluru turns her lens toward rural Tamil Nadu, where faith, identity, and resilience weave through everyday life .

Her long-term work with the Irular tribe captures unforgettable moments: weddings lit by torchlight on the beach, children walking forest paths home from school, farmer-actors performing mythological dramas, and devotees holding camphor fire in their mouths as an act of faith . With empathy and intimacy, she creates a visual record of how art, ritual, and oral traditions remain central to these communities.

Rooted in her decade-long background in the development sector, Smitha’s practice balances storytelling with advocacy—offering not just images, but a compelling archive of resilience, improvisation, and belonging.

📍 New Stories: Women in Photography, India
Presented by ZiiP Foundation × Farleys House & Gallery
On view at Farleys, England – August 5 to October 31, 2025

Follow us to discover the remaining 25 stories.

Niyatee Shinde

08/09/2025

When independence becomes a shared story. 🌃✨👭

Lens-based artist and educator Shraddha Bhargava turns her camera to the intimate world of young women navigating life in a working women’s hostel .

In her series Bedtime Stories in the City of Dreams, she documents the fragile balance between solitude and sisterhood—charging phones in crowded corridors, sharing soft toys, negotiating curfews, preparing for job interviews. Each image captures resilience, joy, and quiet transformation as these women step into urban independence .

Her photographs unfold like a collective diary—moments of tenderness and solidarity that redefine what it means to find home and identity in a relentless city.

📍 New Stories: Women in Photography, India
Presented by ZiiP Foundation × Farleys House & Gallery
On view at Farleys, England – August 5 to October 31, 2025

Follow us to discover the remaining 25 stories.

Niyatee Shinde

07/09/2025

When survival becomes testimony. 🌿🕊️📸

At just 24, Kashmiri journalist and documentary photographer Shefali Rafiq has been amplifying underreported stories from conflict-affected regions for over six years . Her work has appeared in The Guardian, Foreign Policy, and ARTNews, and has been recognized with a Pulitzer Center grant and the 2022 UN Laadli Media Award .

Her photographs capture the intimate struggles and resilience of marginalized communities—from Kashmiri women confronting mental health challenges, to families of lynching victims, to tribal women breaking menstrual taboos . Beyond Kashmir, she has documented Sri Lankan tea plantation workers facing inflation and Delhi’s underprivileged children finding hope in education .

Through her empathetic lens, Shefali foregrounds human dignity, revealing both vulnerability and strength in lives too often overlooked.

📍 New Stories: Women in Photography, India
Presented by ZiiP Foundation × Farleys House & Gallery
On view at Farleys, England – August 5 to October 31, 2025

Follow us to discover the remaining 25 stories.

Niyatee Shinde

06/09/2025

When belonging becomes a portrait. 🏙️✨📷

Self-taught photographer Sheetal Mallar has been documenting people and subcultures for over 14 years, tracing the subtle bonds that tie individuals to the spaces they inhabit .

In her ongoing series Alone Together, she turns the camera on family, friends, and familiar spaces—capturing how urban life shapes emotional states. Each image is an intimate reflection on solitude and connection, asking what “home” truly means: four walls, or the intangible bonds that make us feel less alone .

Her work, featured in exhibitions across India and abroad, balances tenderness and honesty—illuminating the quiet, familiar emotions that shape life in a restless city.

📍 New Stories: Women in Photography, India
Presented by ZiiP Foundation × Farleys House & Gallery
On view at Farleys, England – August 5 to October 31, 2025

Follow us to discover the remaining 25 stories.

Niyatee Shinde

05/09/2025

When borders shape lives. 🌍⛵📷

Saumya Khandelwal, a New Delhi–based photojournalist whose work has appeared in TIME, National Geographic, and The New York Times, uses her lens to tell urgent stories of gender and environment .

In her National Geographic–commissioned series Makuara Pattan, she documents villages trapped between India and Pakistan, cut off by the Ravi River. A single boat becomes a fragile lifeline, carrying stories of aging residents, abandoned homes, and decades of isolation. Her photographs are haunting meditations on neglect and resilience, compelling us to confront the human cost of geographical and political boundaries .

Saumya’s practice is both global and intimate—her collaborations with NGOs like the Malala Fund and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation extend her commitment to amplifying marginalized voices across borders .

📍 New Stories: Women in Photography, India
Presented by ZiiP Foundation × Farleys House & Gallery
On view at Farleys, England – August 5 to October 31, 2025

Follow us to discover the remaining 25 stories.

Niyatee Shinde

04/09/2025

✨ In the News! ✨

We’re thrilled to share that New Stories: Women in Photography, India has been featured in FastForward Photography.

The article highlights the vision behind the show, the works of our 25 incredible Indian women photographers, and the importance of bringing these voices to an international stage at Farleys House & Gallery, England.

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported this journey—your encouragement continues to amplify these stories across borders. 💫

📍 On view until October 31, 2025
📰 Read the full feature here: https://fastforward.photography/new-stories-women-in-photography-india-at-farleys-house-gallery-chiddingly/

Women in Photography

03/09/2025

✨ Through the eyes of our audience ✨

One visitor described New Stories: Women in Photography, India as “an extremely inspiring exhibition.”

We are deeply grateful for these reflections—because the true measure of this show lies in how it resonates with those who experience it.

📍 On view at Farleys House & Gallery, England
🗓️ Until October 31, 2025

Niyatee Shinde

02/09/2025

When rural life becomes poetry. 🌾✨📸

With over two decades of experience, Sanghamitra Bendkhale brings warmth and authenticity to every frame .

Her work celebrates the richness of India’s rural landscapes and cultural traditions—from the spirited energy of the Pattankadoli Yatra near Kolhapur to the quiet intimacy of Arkoo Valley. She captures turmeric farming in Meghalaya, women working in synchrony at a Jerbera flower farm in Talegaon, and countless other scenes of resilience and harmony .

Each photograph is a sensory experience, alive with color, light, and detail. Sanghamitra’s lens is a tribute to the everyday beauty that thrives in India’s villages—where community, labor, and tradition continue to flourish.

📍 New Stories: Women in Photography, India
Presented by ZiiP Foundation × Farleys House & Gallery
On view at Farleys, England – August 5 to October 31, 2025

Follow us to discover the remaining 25 stories.

Niyatee Shinde

01/09/2025

When performance becomes portraiture. 🎶💃📷

Mumbai-based photographer Riddhi Parekh moves fluidly across portraiture, street, documentary, fashion, and landscapes—blurring genres into a language that is both instinctive and poetic .

In Portraits of Music, rare instruments from Kutch float suspended above water, capturing sound as image. In Becoming a Woman, Riddhi turns to Odisha’s Gotipua dancers—young boys embodying gender and devotion through a fading tradition. And in her Train Series, she stages a striking inversion of the gaze, placing a white-skinned Indian woman in unguarded, masculine spaces, creating unapologetic narratives of presence and perception .

Her practice is fearless and experimental, weaving curiosity into every frame, and turning chance encounters and performances into art.

📍 New Stories: Women in Photography, India
Presented by ZiiP Foundation × Farleys House & Gallery
On view at Farleys, England – August 5 to October 31, 2025

Follow us to discover the remaining 25 stories.

Niyatee Shinde