Cumes is a South African-born photographer who has been based on Cape Cod since 2001.
As a photographer, she's particularly invested in exploring stories about the struggles women and girls face, as well as wildlife conservation, and has spent much of her career working on these kinds of projects in Africa and East Asia.
She first fell in love with photography as a teenager in apartheid-era South Africa when she began shooting black and white film and printing her own work. Since then, she's ... view more »
Cumes is a South African-born photographer who has been based on Cape Cod since 2001.
As a photographer, she’s particularly invested in exploring stories about the struggles women and girls face, as well as wildlife conservation, and has spent much of her career working on these kinds of projects in Africa and East Asia.
She first fell in love with photography as a teenager in apartheid-era South Africa when she began shooting black and white film and printing her own work. Since then, she’s completed a B.A. at Brandeis University, an M.F.A at Cornell University, and a Masters in Photojournalism at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School.
“As a photographer, I’ve had the opportunity to travel widely and explore many cultures and communities through my work,” said Cumes. “Having this unique and privileged access to other lives and cultures, I try to always be respectful in my approach, capturing a sense of place and moment and conveying the humanity of the people I’m photographing. With this presentation—during which I will show work from projects in India, South Africa, Thailand, the United States, Tanzania, Cuba and more—I hope to present viewers with a version of the world they may not otherwise get to see and engage them in dialog about this extraordinary and complex world we live in and the power of photography to, as Cartier Bressson put it ‘reach eternity through the moment.”
Over the course of her career, Cumes has photographed for a variety of newspapers, magazines, non-profit organizations, businesses and private clients. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, National Geographic, The London Times, as well as local publications such as Cape Cod Magazine, South Shore Living and Chatham Magazine.
During the past four winters, Cumes spent time teaching photography to children in Rwanda and to tribal Samburu Women at the On’gan Women’s Cooperative in Kenya. Most recently, she received the AFCC visual arts fellowship for her continued exploration of female identity and experience through photography.
The event is $15 (free for CCMoA Guild members) and reservations can be made in advance at www.ccmoa.org/upcoming-events.
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