Ramii Studio

Abhi Chinniah (full name: Abhirami) is a self-taught fine art and documentary photographer whose work explores the shifting cultural identities among migrant, immigrant, and refugee communities.

Born in Ōtautahi Christchurch to Sri Lankan Tamil Malaysian parents, Abhi grew up on Malaysia's East Coast before settling in Auckland, New Zealand.

Her internationally recognised, ongoing photo essays, Light Skin Dark Skin and Melanin Rising, examine colourism and the portrayal of dark-skinned identities in mainstream media. Her subsequent series, A Migrant's Path, documented the generational impact of migration on minority communities within the multicultural diasporas in Aotearoa.

Abhi’s wider archive has been presented in a solo exhibition at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, and her collections are held in the permanent archives of the National Library of New Zealand and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Abhi divides her time between Malaysia and New Zealand.