Maheesha Thiyagarajah is a Tamil documentary photographer based in Toronto, Canada. Working across analog and digital photography, her practice explores memory, belonging and the photograph as an archive of personal and collective histories.

Through long-form documentary projects, she creates intimate visual archives that reflect on the Tamil diaspora and the quiet moments that often go unseen. Her work is grounded in observation and sustained relationships, using photography to consider how landscapes, rituals and everyday experiences become vessels for personal and collective memory.

At the heart of her practice is an interest in collaboration and authorship. Whether documenting her own community or creating projects that invite others to become image-makers themselves, she approaches photography as a space for shared storytelling, care and reflection.

She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from York University and is currently pursuing an MFA in Documentary Media at Toronto Metropolitan University, where she continues to expand her research into documentary photography as an artistic and community-engaged practice.
Photo by Sharujan Shantharaj