The project Not What You Saw began organically, when Kunnath met a handful of female bodybuilders from the region; the group later grew to more than a dozen. Spending time with them, she came to understand the full weight of their commitment: the physical demands of the sport, the emotional strain, and the financial pressure of choosing this career. Determined to build visibility and respect for these women, she got to know their friends and families, spent time with them in their homes outside the shoots, and followed them to competitions.

For Kunnath, the project is both document and provocation: a tribute to trailblazing women, and a call to rethink cultural constructs of gender and beauty. Kunnath’s visual language is striking and graceful - characterized by a rich colour pallette and the softness of a southern Indian sunset.

The exhibition questions stereotypes and preconceptions of what a woman could and should look like and asks the viewer to think twice. The title, Not What You Saw, indicates that what we thought we knew, what we believed typical or acceptable, is shifting.