Tamara Benarroch (b. 2005, Miami, FL) is an American-Colombian portrait photographer based in New York City. She is currently a fourth-year photography student at Parsons School of Design, developing her project "Femininity in Martial Arts" which intersects her passions of femininity, martial arts, and storytelling. The stories are drawn from her own eleven years training in martial arts and of those in her community.
I am a storyteller.
I began creating photographs when I was eleven as a school elective. My teacher emphasized the “why” in our photographs, pushing us to always create with intention. Ten years later, the “why” still grounds everything I make.
When creating and selecting, I often think about Roland Barthes’s concept of a photograph's punctum–the tender, unique detail (existing only in photographs) that unexpectedly pierces the viewer’s heart:
The curl of someone’s vulnerable bare back,
glassy eyes between breaths,
delicate fingers braiding waves;
these subtle details become the melody
in my stories.
To me, the soft curl of my jiujitsu partner’s feminine hand folded over her rough, textured gi represents femininity coexisting within the masculine martial arts space I grew up in. These quiet, symbolic details I intentionally capture and select tell the story. While they may not always be consciously noticed, they are felt.
Contact
Email tamarabenarroch@gmail.com
Instagram @tamarab.photos
Education
Parsons School of Design BFA Photography 2027 (expected)
Paris College of Art Spring Semester BFA Photography 2026
Selected Exhibitions
Solo-exhibition featuring "Femininity in Martial Arts" at Eclectique Cafe, Marseille, France (May-September 2026)
Work selected for Parsons School of Design First-Year Exhibition and Poster Image, 2024
Recognitions
The New School Student Research Award 2026 Recipient for "Femininity in Martial Arts".
Parsons Photography Scholarship 2026
Parsons Photography Scholarship 2024
Winner of the 2023/2024 AIGA Worldstudio Scholarship in the photography category
American Visions Medal in the 2023 Scholastic Art and Writing Competition
National Gold Key in the 2023 Scholastic Art and Writing Competition
National Gold Key in the 2019 Scholastic Art and Writing Competition
National Silver Key in the 2020 Scholastic Art and Writing Competition
2021 Finalist in Sony Youth World Competition for Street Photography
9 Scholastic Art and Writing Gold Keys
12 Scholastic Art and Writing Silver Keys
9 Scholastic Art and Writing Honorable Mentions
2 Finalists in the Drexel University High School Photography Competition (2019, 2020)
Chosen Best Digital Art in the 2020 Congressional Art Competition
2 Honorable Mentions in Broward Art Guild Youth Competition (2018, 2019)
Chosen for the Courage to Create photo exhibit Sunrise Civic Center 2018
8 awards at Art Walk 2019 (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4 Honorable Mentions)