Basic Information
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Company
Vivek Narula Portrait -
Website
www.viveknarula.com -
What is your "why"? Why do you do what you do?
Most people do not need to be fixed before they are photographed. They need someone to pay attention.
A camera can record a face in a fraction of a second. Seeing who is there takes longer.
Many people arrive expecting another portrait that does not feel like them. My answer is simple: If you don’t feel photogenic, it’s not you. It’s how it’s been done.
That is why our process begins with conversation, planning, and trust, not “Stand there and smile.”
We create a custom playlist around you, then talk, laugh, and let the session unfold. Somewhere along the way, it stops feeling like a photo shoot and starts feeling like a real conversation that happens to leave photographs behind.
My favorite moment comes later, at the reveal. Someone leans toward the screen, pauses, and says some version of:
“There I am.”
That is the moment I work for. We have not manufactured a better version of someone. We have made the person who was already there visible. -
Unique Selling Proposition
Vivek Narula Portrait is a boutique Minneapolis studio creating cinematic legacy portraits and distinctive headshots and personal-branding images.
Every session is designed around the individual, relationship, or brand rather than pulled from a formula. We begin with a design consultation to understand what the photographs need to express, then plan the visual direction, wardrobe, styling, and details together.
Professional hair and makeup are included for women. For studio guests who want deeper wardrobe guidance, a personal styling experience is also available. It includes a two-hour in-home consultation, up to five curated looks from their existing wardrobe, a focused shopping list, and ongoing support through the session day. During the session, everyone is guided through posing and expression, so no one has to arrive knowing what to do in front of the camera.
The real difference is not simply the number of services we provide. It is the intention behind them. Every decision, from lighting and styling to composition and expression, is made to create photographs that feel specific to the person in them.
No templates. No run-of-the-mill photography. And no expectation that anyone know what to do with their hands, because hands become a major logistical problem the moment a camera enters the room.
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About me
I was born to Indian parents in Chatham, Ontario, a city about three hours west of Toronto. My passport says Canadian. My name says Sanskrit. Hotel clerks and substitute teachers have treated this as a group project ever since.
Vivek is pronounced Vee-vake, rhymes with cake, and means “wise discernment of the mind.” This is a majestic burden for someone who has occasionally spent ten minutes looking for the glasses already on his face.
I have been drawn to faces for as long as I can remember. Before portraiture became my work, I spent years as an illustrator, writer, videographer, advertising copywriter, marketing manager, and real estate photographer.
Buildings were excellent clients. They arrived fully dressed, stood exactly where you left them, and never blinked during an exposure.
But I kept returning to people.
Today, I run Vivek Narula Portrait in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District, where all those earlier creative lives finally ended up in the same room. The illustrator notices shape and gesture. The copywriter listens for the story beneath the obvious. The marketer understands what an image needs to communicate. And the photographer brings it all together.
My team and I create cinematic legacy portraits, distinctive headshots, and personal-branding images designed around the person, relationship, or story in front of us. No two sessions look exactly alike, because no two people arrive with the same history, energy, or reason for being photographed.
A green card brought me from Toronto to Minneapolis in 2012 so I could be closer to my brother and pursue this work. People assumed that, as a Canadian, I would be used to the cold. I had never even heard the words polar vortex, which I initially assumed was either a science-fiction weapon or something astronauts trained to survive.
When I am not in the studio, I am usually reading Eastern philosophy, meditating, practicing yoga, sketching, taking another online class, or spending time with friends and family. I am still trying to determine my place in the universe, although the universe has ignored three emails and a calendar link. -
Profession
Portrait Photographer -
Title
Owner -
Hobbies and interest
cartooning, reading, writing, online learning
Contact Information
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City / Town
Minneapolis -
State
MN -
Zip
55413 -
Country
United States -
Google Business Review URL
https://g.page/r/CQQNvxA0RkK0EBM/review