Photo: Luc Brisette
Passionate about people, the spaces they create and inhabit, their lifestyle, and the arts, Kiran Ambwani is a freelance documentary and portrait photographer, and photography educator, based in Montreal, Canada. Combining documentary photography with an intimate, humanist approach, Kiran's creative vision captivates the editorial and non-profit worlds, with a versatile portfolio encompassing portraiture, travel, documentary and humanitarian work.
Kiran's images reflect a sensitivity shaped by her background in anthropology and environmental studies, and her numerous travels. Driven by a curiosity for the problematics encountered by marginalized populations, Kiran has explored, among others, the lives of Tibetan monks in exile in south India, the survivors of child trafficking in Mumbai & Kathmandu, the inhabitants of Mumbai's slums, and post-disaster relief efforts in Nepal, Ecuador and Haiti. In order to share her environmental and social concerns with the public, Kiran's work documenting the human condition, human rights issues and international aid has been diffused by various publications worldwide, notably CBC Radio Canada, Le Devoir, Chatelaine, Vogue, MindFood, Travesias, Geo Plein Air and Indian Express.
In recent years, Kiran has facilitated several photographic workshops and photovoice projects in Canada and abroad, for the general public, for patients living with cancer in Montreal, for girls rescued from brothels in Nepal, for ex-prostitutes and their children in India, for victims of the earthquake in Ecuador and for the youth of Mumbai's Dharavi slum. She has also been working on cultural mediation projects in Montreal, to help make art accessible to all, and is currently engaged in a long-term mentoring project with refugee youth in Ottawa. These various projects have been shared with a wider audience through exhibitions and publications. Art and community engagement connect the various facets of her artistic practice.
Kiran is a graduate of McGill University and the Dawson Institute of Photography in Montreal. She has participated in several group and solo exhibitions of her personal work in Canada, India, Japan and Nepal.
Kiran's images reflect a sensitivity shaped by her background in anthropology and environmental studies, and her numerous travels. Driven by a curiosity for the problematics encountered by marginalized populations, Kiran has explored, among others, the lives of Tibetan monks in exile in south India, the survivors of child trafficking in Mumbai & Kathmandu, the inhabitants of Mumbai's slums, and post-disaster relief efforts in Nepal, Ecuador and Haiti. In order to share her environmental and social concerns with the public, Kiran's work documenting the human condition, human rights issues and international aid has been diffused by various publications worldwide, notably CBC Radio Canada, Le Devoir, Chatelaine, Vogue, MindFood, Travesias, Geo Plein Air and Indian Express.
In recent years, Kiran has facilitated several photographic workshops and photovoice projects in Canada and abroad, for the general public, for patients living with cancer in Montreal, for girls rescued from brothels in Nepal, for ex-prostitutes and their children in India, for victims of the earthquake in Ecuador and for the youth of Mumbai's Dharavi slum. She has also been working on cultural mediation projects in Montreal, to help make art accessible to all, and is currently engaged in a long-term mentoring project with refugee youth in Ottawa. These various projects have been shared with a wider audience through exhibitions and publications. Art and community engagement connect the various facets of her artistic practice.
Kiran is a graduate of McGill University and the Dawson Institute of Photography in Montreal. She has participated in several group and solo exhibitions of her personal work in Canada, India, Japan and Nepal.