She has been the creative mind behind many musical artists’ shoots – such as Yung Lean, The Darcys or K.I.D. – and has developed visual content for companies like MTV, Topshop or Vogue. Maya Fuhr is the kind of artist who experiments and turns photography into a funny game. Always working in her own day-to-day style she enlightens the personality of everyone who poses in front of her lens, and gives us painfully beautiful and raw situations. But does she speak about other people's experiences through her images or does she speak about her own?
Hello Maya, what is your background? Where do you come from?
I'm from Victoria, British Columbia. I'm South African and Russian-Jewish on my dad's side – he's a psychologist –, and German on my mom's side – she's a chef and a sustainable clothing designer. I studied cinema in Montreal and in my free time I practice yoga, paint with watercolours, dance and socialize.
What about your philosophy, which is your manifesto?
The philosophy of relaxation.
In your photographs we truly see the essence of things. Could you speak about your creative process and how do you define the concept behind each series and translate it into daily materials and objects?
My work is very intuitive and my process relies on the technicalities of film and a whole lot of patience. I have a peculiar eye so each particular vision that comes to my mind, I need to instantly capture it or else it bothers me to keep it in my head; it's like a satisfying release.
“I have a bunch of eccentric traits that blend together into the moment I capture the essence of my interaction with the subject.”
So you say your work rises from a natural impulse?
Yes, I have a consistent drive to create work that gives my life a sense of purpose. Once the film is developed I sit with each photograph for months and months, so I’ll either archive the photos or fit them into one of my conceptual projects or exhibitions.
Do you have any eccentric oddity?
As a photographer having a weird personality trait is not always indicative of the final photograph's mood; I'm inspired by the personality of what's in front of the lens. I don't think that I have just one eccentric trait anyways; I think that I have a bunch of them that blend together into the one moment in which I take the photo and capture the entire essence of my interaction with the subject.
Which is, for you, the main ambition of the photographer of the 21st century?
My main ambition as a photographer is to be my own boss forever.
