VaneeshaKrish | Visual Storyteller

*This was incredibly difficult to make, but I felt it had to be said. If you’re a friend, I kindly ask you watch this with an open mind, and reflect upon the message and intent. All my life I’ve been the “token Indian friend”- that person people of other races could use to say “I have an Indian friend, it’s Neesha”, but what does it mean to truly BE a friend to someone from a marginalised community? Recently, I’ve been processing what being a friend and Ally means, and I realised I’ve been a friend TO so many people, but friends WITH just a handful. These past couple of somber years that have MASSIVELY impacted marginalised communties, has been a harsh reminder to me of my reality and the reality of communities like mine- that we exist just to check the “racially diverse” box, calling a place that makes us feel like we our existence is something we owe, not something we own, home. I never saw myself anywhere other than Malaysia and anything other than Malaysian so eventhough my country didn’t want me, I still wanted her, fought so hard for her, hoping that someday she’d accept me. But this year, for the first time in 27 years of my existence, I started wondering if the grass _could_ possible be greener on the other side, and if regardless of whether or not we get there, we’re bound to live unwanted and prejudiced against forever. Producer and online editor: @neeshakrish Cinematographer & offline editor: @eugenechan_dop ♥️ #depthofv Feel free to reshare this video, from my profile if it resonates with you, but please note that I do not consent to it being reposted or repurposed anywhere on any other platform. Thank you 🙏🏽♥️

Would have honestly never thought I’d be a cover artist of all things but here we are ♥️ [Full article link in bio] Advocacy-related media engagements are double edged swords. They make space for our voices and causes to be heard, help amplify them in hopes of change, but if you’re oppressed, they can also be dangerous, exhausting, retraumatising, and draw unwanted attention our way too. It’s not something I enjoy, and I often worry I’m not the right person to be commenting in the first place. The only things that makes me say yes, that keeps me trying, is I suppose, love for and from my community and a strong belief in this cutely named but potentially massive thing we call the butterfly effect. Some months ago, a Tamil femme queer photographer spoke about our bleak lived realities in Malaysia and our lack of inclusion anywhere, in an exhibition. She accidentally lost her rehearsed script so she tapped into the words that came straight from her heart. They were messy- she choked back sobs through it- but they were raw, true and in retrospect, perhaps more sincere than any written script could have been. Somewhere in the crowd, the editor of Buro listened, and took mental notes. Some months after that, she emailed that photographer to be her July cover star, the first Tamil person to be featured on Buro’s cover. True diversified inclusion won’t happen overnight, and I think most of us are sober enough to not expect it to, but there is some hope in these little ripples of change. In the way people listen, and choose to make space. So here I am, hoping that butterfly continues to do her thing 🦋 That is not to say that any of this is enough, but it’s a decent start, much better than being stuck. Thank you for listening, Buro. Hoping for more diversity and inclusion within your team and content too ♥️ Editor & styling / @sarahhanijamil Text & creative direction / @nataliekhoo__ Art direction & layout design / @saintskeleton Photography: @aimanyazd Videography: Dennis Kho Makeup / Naoke Chu for @lancomeofficial Hair / @meichoi Location / @atticstudio___

This article came out a few days ago but I didn’t immediately share it because it took me awhile to digest that I was on Tatler. I talk about taking up space a lot but the truth is I still struggle to do it myself. Today when I showed it to my childhood bestfriend and she cried happy tears, it finally dawned on me that this feature is a big fkg deal: these achievements aren’t mine alone. So here it is. A little joy: a little pat on the back and a huge toast to those I owe it all to: my amma, the women in my life, loved ones both nearest and dearest and in the small-suburb I grew up in, and the community I come from. Here’s to more Tamil women/femme-presenting people being acknowledged and appreciated too ♥️ Thank you for the feature, @tatlermalaysia and @taniajayatilaka . Honored to be featured alongside a pool of talented photographers. Big love to @peiyi57 for your kindness and solidarity. Article photo direction: Vaneesha #DepthOfV Assisted by: @eugenechan_dop Full link in bio ✨

What is the cost of our collective and communal joy in an AI-surveilled nation? 10,000 AI CCTV cameras were installed across KL as reported on April 30th, right before KL Festival 2026 in May, that will see diverse artists, advocates and activists take up space in the city to celebrate arts, culture and heritage in public spaces. I love what this event stands for. But I can't help but think about whether the timing of these cameras is a coincidence, especially as we move further into a world where surveillance increasingly impedes our rights to freedom, privacy and equality. "Public safety" is often used to justify expanding surveillance, but documented cases show it is more often turned against civilians than used to deter crime. In Russia, activists and protesters were identified through facial recognition and summoned by police after demonstrations. During BLM 2020 in the US, Amnesty International found protesters were under near-total facial recognition surveillance, calling it “a digital stop-and-frisk.” Cameras also don’t reduce crime in totality, but displace it from monitored to unmonitored areas, the volume largely remains. AI compounds this. A 2019 NIST study of 189 algorithms found Black & Asian people were up to 100 times more likely to be misidentified. 6 out of 7 confirmed wrongful facial recognition arrests in the US involved Black people. Oppressed communities are disproportionately surveilled, criminalised and misidentified, and the errors follow the same pattern. The cost of our “safety” being our freedom is contradictory to our constitutional rights. As people who believe in the unifying and political power of art, it’s worth asking: what is the cost of our collective joy and our space to commune? THAT SAID! This is not to scare anyone from participating. I think we should, and I know I will. But it’s important to remain critical of systems that grant us these caveated spaces while asking us to pay for them with our privacy. The false sense of freedom these spaces offer should not disillusion us. If anything, we must remain vigilant: Take up space, but stay critical of who's watching while you do. Drop a 👁️ if you resonate!

I couldn’t get enough of the watercolour hues of House of Antara. This and a hazy afternoon at a space for poetry, art and all the bright little things. Photographer: @vaneeshakrish Assistant Photographer: @heyyyitssash Studio: @22.hub Outfit: @houseofantara

april 2026 / part ii: a recap stepping out of retirement from photoshoots and portraits for this one. 🥰 we went to the event, in support of buying some new collection pieces from House of Antara and surprising @deborahwoong at the same time, because two for one, duh! we took upon the chance for our portraits to me done. some might saw updated digitals of ourselves and of us. thank you to Vaneesha & Sash for making it such a chill and comfortable environment to shoot in and absolutely blown away by the photos that came out. Iliya and I absolutely love them. keepsakes for sure. one for the books and forever memories 🫶🏻 Photographer: @vaneeshakrish 
Assistant Photographer: @heyyyitssash 
Studio: @22.hub 
Outfit: @houseofantara

Community Portraits Offering! ✨🌸🧚🏽 In conjunction with @andsnap.my ’s community show happening THIS Saturday! Whether for your LinkedIn profile, a new profile picture in general (or for Bumble 👀.. we don’t judge!) our portrait sessions are open for anyone who’s ever wanted to have portrait photos taken for them by a portrait photographer 🥹 I’ve always believed everyone deserves to have portraits of themselves taken with care, and sensitivity, because there’s nothing quite like having ourselves seen and celebrated as we deserve to be, and I’m always happy when we get to offer special sessions like these! Come dressed in the outfit you’d like to be photographed in or have yourself styled by @houseofantara , a local clothing brand making international waves 🌸 Sessions are RM40 for 2 edited images but if you spend RM180 at @houseofantara , you get a FREE portrait session ✨ 🗓️: 28 March 2026 📍: 22 Hub, PJ 🕑: 2pm-6pm 🎟️: RM40 📸: +RM40 for 2 edited photos *Accessible studio space, wheel-chair friendly and just 5 mins drive from the nearest LRT Purchase a ticket via the link in @andsnap.my ’s bio or purchase a walk-in ticket for a lovely weekend supporting artists and creatives ✨ __ The event is a non-profit initiative by @andsnap.my and @22.hub to make space for diverse artists from spoken word poets to community vendor slots, to uplift and empower the Malaysian arts scene ✨

AI isn't just a tech issue, it's a human rights, environmental and feminist issue, and it's already shaping our life whether you opted in or not 🌍👾 One of Women's March Malaysia's seven demands this year is the regulation of AI, to prevent environmental harm, protect workers, and uphold human dignity. But this demand doesn't stand alone, because unregulated AI is connected to the other demands connecting to land rights, child safety, gender-based violence, labour exploitation, and the silencing of the most marginalised communities. As Audre Lorde said, there is no such thing as a single-issue struggle, because we do not live single-issue lives. I know it’s scary times, with all the news that has come out of the boom of AI, but the way people continue to push back to fight for what is gives me hope. For instance, as the world enters water bankruptcy, I think back to the time when communities came together and changed the course of science when the ozone hole was discovered. 198 countries came together and signed the Montreal Protocol, and the ozone layer is now on track to fully recover by 2040. We didn't wait. We organised, mobilised, and pushed for reform, and it worked! We can do it again. But we need more of us in the room, on the ground, in fields of creation and study, in governance. Join us at Women's March Malaysia on 8 March 2026, Bangkit: Bantah (Night Edition), challenging fear as a tool of control and to reclaim public space 🌙✊🏽 📍: Sogo KL 🗓️: 8 March 2026 🕕: 6.15pm onwards If you can't be there in person, that’s okay, you can still be part of it by sharing your placards, artwork, posts on solidarity or by sharing content like this ♥️ We were never meant to carry this pain alone. Come find your people. 🤝🏽 #WhyWeWalk #WMMY2026 #WomensMarchMY #PeranakanWanitaMY WeWalkWithoutFear

Slowly trying to make birthday portraits an annual ritual I return to, to celebrate how far I’ve come 🧚🏽✨🥹 I cannot overstate how special shoots like this are for the soul. In a world where we are told to shrink and shy away when we don’t fit eurocentric beauty standards, existing and taking up space this way is powerful. I think that remains even more true when they’re done with an all women team who truly understands what it means for women of diverse identities to be photographed, and strive to create a welcoming and empowering space. Can confirm that as person in front of the camera this time around, when we see ourselves reflected in the people behind the scenes, when they understand our worries and insecurities but also hype us up so much through it, it helps us feel less like a deer in headlights and more safe to be vulnerable, to express, to connect with our bodies and celebrate ourselves - all of which reflects in our photos too. I’ve had the women I photograph tell me that portrait sessions like these move them to tears, and change their lives, and honestly, I get it when I’m in their place too, and I cherish our moments together so much. Inclusive women-led sets see creations like no other and create a sense of belonging unlike any male-dominant ones and I remain grateful to be able to create spaces like these with the best team. Opening March slots for portrait sessions soon! 🥹♥️ DM if you’d like to make an earlier booking ✨

32 🤍 14.02.26 If I remain here, let my existence be gentle, restful, whimsical and joyful 🧚🏾 32 feels like standing at the edge of a clearing. I know many of us feel that way as the year of the snake comes to an end. 2025 was a year of shedding and walking paths that felt treacherously endless. And yet, in all that stripping away, something unexpected happened: Space was made, some filled with new experiences, some of it with new friendships, all gentle invitations into a 2026 filled with possibilities. I want to believe that as that space expands, it will be filled with transformation & memories that build new neural pathways in my brain, through rest, expression & safe connections that teach my body gentleness is possible for her too, that recovery is not all thay she is, she can thrive too 🧚🏽 Those of us who help keep the stories of our communities alive (WHRDs and artists I’m looking atchuuu) often disappear from ourselves. We pour endlessly and forget that we are living stories too. To keep telling stories that matter, we must become participants in our own unfolding, our pursuit of joy, our slowing down for intentionality..as we rewrite generational scripts. That is the work too. Building our capacity to show up in ways that honors ourselves allows us to create in more meaningful ways. When we tend to our own becoming, out art deepens too. In a world where our bodies and identities are politicized, our lives, our expression and our radical joy, not just our crafts, remain defiant love notes. Every day that we are here is resistance 💖💛💙 Here’s to celebrating ourselves more too, as we build better ways of creating from love, with love. — This is my second consecutive year of keeping up with birthday portraits, and this small ritual of love has become sacred to me, it helping me see how far I’ve come. So much love to the sayangs who helped me realise these portraits, whom I simply could not have done without ♥️ MUA: @houseofsanglo Assistant Photog: @heyyyitssash Creative Direction + Editing: @vaneeshakrish

January went better than I expected 🥹✨ Been wanting to collage physically but digital collaging is easier to do in bed, which is where I spend a majority of my non-working time (just chronic illness things) so here we are!! This month saw a lot resetting and shedding (final lap of Snake szn iykwim!) but ALSO at the same time, the beginning of many new, exciting things! I’m also making an active effort to combat the very real brain rot that so many of us are experiencing since the pandemic and so far, it’s been looking good, from reading to reminding myself of my love for films, to crafting and celebrating my inner child, it has been lovely to celebrate art and to introspect on the beauty of our humanness through it all. I also spent time with friends and did other outdoor fun things and saw people wear their hearts on their sleeves, caught up with friends on phone calls, and also had lovely homecooked-like food by dear friends! How powerful it is to connect and commune and remember that there is so much love and joy to be shared not just inspite of but especially because the world is on fire. Months like these, where pain days 📈 are made better by moments like these. Lessgooo February!

Recently, we recorded a VO session with the award-winning Susan Lankester. These moments remind us why we do what we do and how far we’ve come as a production house. From Mekanik to Macai, Susan brings over 40 years of experience, knowledge and talent to every take and it was an honour and pleasure to witness her in action. So when she paused between recordings to tell Vaneesha that her direction and notes were good, clear and genuinely helpful, it meant the world. She went on to say that this isn’t always the case. Over her decades in the industry, she’s worked with many directors who struggle to communicate their vision in ways that actually support the performance. Hearing that validation from someone with Susan’s experience was incredibly affirming, not just for Vaneesha, but for our entire team. In an age of AI-generated VO, working with a real human artist is not only refreshing, it reinforces what many of us know to be true, that there’s a soul & authenticity to a human artist that no AI can replicate. Running a production house with care, accessibility, and inclusivity at the core of how we operate isn’t always easy. Many days feel like an uphill battle. But days like these remind us that our craft doesn’t have to come at the cost of our values and humanity. That holding onto these values doesn’t compromise our work. If anything, it makes it better. Grateful for moments that reaffirm what’s possible when we create with intention ✨ Director: @vaneeshakrish Assistant Director: @heyyyitssash Sound Engineer: @parameswara5 VO Artist: @susan_lankester