Parker Grace Puls: Celebrating Identity Through Storytelling
Parker Grace Puls, BA Journalism + Design/BFA Photography ’24, sees her work as an extension of her identity. “It’s important to be yourself and show who you are in your work,” she says.
For her Journalism + Design senior thesis at Eugene Lang
College of Liberal Arts, Puls created An Indigenous Persons Guide to NYC, which highlights Native American resources, artists, and organizations across New York City. It was inspired by the challenges she faced finding other Indigenous people
in the city. “Sometimes it takes just one person to open the door and introduce you to a community,” says Puls. “I wanted this guide to be like that one person.”
For Imprint, her photography program thesis, Puls made a traditional Diné (Navajo) skirt from hand-printed cyanotypes of collaged images representing the Navajo Nation reservation. The project includes documentary-style footage of Puls wearing the skirt as she goes about her day in New York City. “It was like bringing the reservation with me and the idea of literally wearing my heritage,” explains Puls. At Parsons, Puls was encouraged to create art that was true to her experiences. “The faculty took the time to get to know my story and understand my perspective,” says Puls. “I wouldn’t have gotten that at many other schools.” Earning a dual degree let her pursue two of her passions simultaneously: writing and photography. “The programs complemented each other and helped me learn how to say more with less,” says Puls.
Through Her Eyes is a deeply personal and conceptual photographic project that honors her late grandmother. In this collection, Puls captures moments in her teenage cousin’s life, imagining how her grandmother would have seen and experienced them.
Puls is now based in Savannah, Georgia, where she freelances as a photographer for Bloomberg Media. She’s also taking part in the Betti Ono Foundation’s Artist in Residence project ‘lweš-‘iweš kečkeyma: 100 women, in which Indigenous women are making 100 ribbon skirts, representing 100 women and girls who died in the brutal Spanish colonial mission system in what is now California. The skirts will be displayed in an installation suspended from the ceiling, creating a powerful tribute. The project helps preserve the craft of sewing traditional garments that has been passed down from generation to generation. It also reflects Parker’s desire to use art as a vehicle for storytelling and advocacy. “The representation that art can bring is so important,” she says.