Tova Katzman is a photo and video artist and visual storyteller from Massachusetts currently based in Austin, Texas. Using documentary and experimental approaches, her work stems from research, conversations, performance and an interest in human geography and spirituality. In 2017, she was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to pursue an art and research project about the intersection of daily life and the Panama Canal. She remained based in Panama for six years working as a freelance photographer/videographer, translator, curator and photo assistant as well as the co-founder of La Junta Colectiva, a collective for women photographers working in Panama.

Tova is currently pursuing her MFA in photo and media at UT Austin and finishing a short film about Mr. Brown, a fisherman and gardener dedicated to planting medicinal fruit trees next to the Panama Canal.

~speaks fluent Spanish. open to assignments // collaborations // conversations

archival inkjet prints available~

contact: tovakatzman.studio@gmail.com

Education

  • The University of Texas at Austin

    MFA Candidate, 2025

    Photo and Media

  • Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston

Bachelor of Fine Arts, May 2015

Photography Major

  • University of Barcelona, Spain, 2014 

Exchange

Awards/Residencies

  • Salón Nacional de Artistas, Estudio Nuboso in Bocas de Ceniza, Barranquilla, Colombia, 2022

  • Long Term Project Workshop with Daniella Zalcman and Natalie Keyssar, half scholarship, 2021

  • Fulbright Art and Research Fellowship, Panama, 2017-18 

  • Paul Tsongas Scholarship Recipient, 2011-2015     

  • MassArt Photography Foundation Award, 2015                    

                                                                                                                                                                                   

Work Experience

  • Assistant/Translator/Video Editor, Sharon Harper, Harvard University, Chile, Puerto Rico, Mexico, 2018-2023

  • Videographer, Brick City TV, Murder at Sea documentary, 2023

  • Photographer/Videographer/Facilitator, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute x Estudio Nuboso, BCI100 LAB, Panama, 2023

  • Photographer/Videographer, Rights+Resources, Women in Global South Alliance, Panama, 2023

  • Videographer/Producer, Human Rights Campaign + PFLAG Panama, faith and inclusion, 2023

  • Photographer/Videographer, HIAS, Migration in Darien, Panama, 2022

  • Videographer, United Nations Human Rights Office, Pride March ft. Trans Assembly, Panama 2022

  • Videographer/Editor, CIEPS, short documentary on adolescent pregnancy in Panama, 2022

  • Video Editor, Edwina Von Gal, Bacourou Drua Darien Project, 2022

  • Project Coordinator, La Junta Colectiva with The US Embassy in Panama, What Calls Us, Photography exhibition and public program, 2022

  • Photography/Studio Assistant, Rose Marie Cromwell, Panama/Miami, 2019-2022

  • Videographer/Producer, United Nations Human Rights Office, Trans Solidarity Network, Panama, 2020

  • Photographer/Videographer, Concolon Magazine, 2019-2022

  • Stills Photographer/Second  Videographer, La Selva Llama documentary, Panama, 2019-2020 

  • Videographer, United Nations Refugee Agency, Video Dance Project, Panama, 2019

  • Assistant Director of Photography, Mestizo Cinema, Negre Macha, Panama, 2019

  • Production Assistant, Fresh TV, Upworthy Ancestry MiniDoc, Massachusetts, 2019

  • Photographer, Festival de la Memoria, Panama, 2019

  • Photographer, Estudio Nuboso, Art and Science Lab, Panama, 2015, 2017, 2019

  • Photography/Research Assistant, Katherine Zien, Panama, 2019

  • Studio Assistant, Sandra Eleta, Panama, 2019-2022

  • Photography Assistant, Jordi Ruiz Cirera, Panama, 2018

  • Videographer, Espacio Creativo, Crush Dance Project, Panama City, 2018                      

  • Photography Assistant, Dina Litovsky, Massachusetts, 2017                                                                                 

  • Photo Intern, Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts, 2015                                                                   

  • Teaching Assistant, Irina Rozovsky, Massart, 2015

Selected Publications

Solo Exhibitions

  • Si caigo en el Canal, nada, nado, Papaya Planet Art Space, Panama City, Panama, 2018   

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • The Buoyancy Show, Lemp Brewery Complex, St.Louis, MO, 2023

  • Remembered Technologies, TEOR/ética, San Jose, Costa Rica, 2023

  • SUELO: Bocas de Cenizas, Salón Nacional de Artistas, Barranquilla, Colombia, 2022

  • What Calls Us: Identity and Territory in Panama, US Embassy in Panama, La Cinta Costera, Panama, 2022

  • El Pasado Adelante, Spanish Cultural Center, Panama, 2022

  • Annual Auction, Museum of Contemporary Art, Panama 2020, 2021, 2022

  • Un Mundo Mejor, Allegro Gallery, Panama, 2021

  • Water is Life, Díptico Gallery, Panama, 2021 

  • Generación Igualdad, French Embassy, Panama, 2021

  • Quicken the Heart, Grid Gallery, Panama, 2020

  • Art and Science Lab, Ibero-America Design Biennial, Madrid, Spain, 2018

  • All Visual Boston, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA, 2015                                      

  • Islands on the Edge, Atlantic Wharf Gallery, Boston, 2015

  • Below the Sky, Above the Clouds, Piano Craft Gallery, Boston, MA, 2015                                 

  • 30 Under 30, Featherstone Center for the Arts, Oak Bluffs, MA, 2015                                                                                                             

  • Back to Dark Silver Gelatin Show, MassArt, Boston, MA, 2015                                                              

  • On Photography, Hynes Convention Center, Boston, MA, 2015                            


Curation

  • What Calls Us: Identity and Territory in Panama sponsored by The US Embassy in Panama, 2022

  • Hasta Aqui Era Agua, Diablo Rosso Gallery, Panama, 2021 

  • La Espera, Grid Gallery, Panama, 2021

  • Between Shores: A Show on Water, Student Life Gallery, Massart, Boston, MA, 2015        

                                                

Talks/Workshops

  • At the Table: Empathy, Community, and Collaboration, guest critic, MassArt MFA program, 2024

  • Art in Dialogue With 100 Years of Tropical Science, Berlin Science Week, 2023

  • Live Radio Table, Salón Nacional de Artistas, Barranquilla, Colombia, 2022

  • Reading Images Under the Surface, workshop, Museum of Contemporary Art in Panama, 2022 

  • Art in Public Spaces, public conversation, Museum of Contemporary Art in Panama, 2022

  • Developing a photography project, virtual workshop, La Junta Colectiva, 2022

  • Hasta Aquí Era Agua, guided exhibition visit, Diablo Rosso, Panama, 2021

  • Photography workshops, Panamanian Institute for Labor Studies, Panama, 2021

  • Conversation with Paula Kupfer, La Junta Colectiva, IG live, 2021

  • Alumni Career Panel, virtual talk, Massachusetts College of Art, 2021

  • Public Artist Talk, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama, 2019 

  • Three Generations: A conversation with Sandra Eleta, Rose Marie Cromwell and Tova Katzman, Spanish Cultural Center, Panama 2019

  • Leer imágenes, photography workshop, FundAHrte, Panama, 2019 

  • Contemporary Photography, Panelist, Museum of Contemporary Art in Panama, 2018

Press

  • La Estrella de Panamá, Una mirada de Panamá bajo el lente de La Junta Colectiva, 2022

  • La Ruta Del Metro, video interview, 2021

  • Aviary Gallery, online exhibition, 2020

  • Estudio Nuboso, Artist in Focus, 2019

  • La Estrella de Panamá, Tres generaciones de fotógrafas, 2018                                                                     

  • Don-Dean blog, interview, 2016                                                                     

  • Phases Magazine, feature, 2016                                                                         

  • Paper-Journal, featured article, 2016                                                                                              

  • Aint-Bad Magazine, editorial feature, 2015     

   

Collectives