5MINS with Maya Beano
Maya Beano featured her dream-like, tranquil series ‘Alpine Blues’ in #PHOTOGRAPHY Issue 15, we now catch up to explore in-depth her beautifully vivid projects, her processes and inspirations.
Hello Maya, Firstly, how did you first get into photography?
I would say that this happened in stages. As a kid, one of my precious belongings was a toy film camera. My perception of angles was very wonky, and my subjects were mostly my younger brothers. I thought I was a detective documenting the magical world of toddlers and their toys. When I went to school, other hobbies took over, and I forgot about cameras for a while. A bit later on in life, I bought a DSLR and started shooting landscapes. I also did some event photography locally to earn pocket money when I was at university. It wasn’t until recently, though, that I made a conscious decision to explore photography as art. I still consider this to be a personal project, but I started posting some of this work online towards the very end of 2014 to connect with other photographers.
Are you self taught?
Yes.
How would you describe your style?
I think of the photos as being hazy memories and feelings, which may or may not be depictions of reality. It’s also important to me to couple this with a strong sense of adventure and exploration, albeit in a subtle, dreamy way.
Can you briefly describe your photograph flow / methods?
I think it all starts with a mood or feeling that I would like to convey. This might be when I’m up on a mountain or just walking in a field round the corner from where I live. A lot of stuff happens after that point, but it’s difficult to explain this in a stepwise manner. I’ll be trying to load film into a camera, thinking about the composition and looking out for the light all at the same time. It’s also a very fluid process - any subtle changes in the environment or in my chain of thoughts will influence the image in my head. Most of the time, I carry multiple cameras with me, so occasionally, I end up opening the back of a camera that already had film in by accident. I do this less often these days, but it is what got me experimenting with light leaks a while ago. After loading the film, I don’t always start shooting right away. I usually wait till I feel that the moment is just right. That’s not to say that the final images always come out the way I expect them to. I’ve been experimenting with different cameras and film for over a year now, and I’m regularly surprised by some of the results.
Why film rather than digital?
After so many years of using my digital camera on automatic settings, I thought film photography would be a great way to relearn all the technical stuff. With digital, I never really paid much attention to the mistakes I was making over and over again because I could take tens of photos of the same thing. Using film slowed me down enough that I was able to develop a whole new appreciation of the process. I think once you’re confident with the technicalities, it becomes easier to stop obsessing about them. They’re still important, but I think you become more capable of letting your intuition take over. I mostly shoot film nowadays because I’ve grown attached to it and it feels natural to me, but I haven’t totally gone off digital and I do use my DSLR occasionally, especially for very low light photography.
In your project ‘Polar Warmth’ 2016, the colours are so vivid and captivating, and this leads me to ask what editing processes you use to emphasise the overall dream-like landscapes that you create?
I totally believe in post-processing as a valuable artistic tool. Once upon a time, I used to love painting, so to me, post-processing is very reminiscent of having a half-blank canvas in front of me and a paintbrush in my hand. Having said that, I don’t edit absolutely everything, and, of course, there are various degrees of editing. Most of the time, I will carry out some very basic digital adjustments, namely contrast and brightness. However, if I feel that accentuating certain shadows or colours will help convey the feelings I would like to convey, then I don’t hesitate to edit the photos further.
Again, it’s almost impossible to describe this process in a stepwise manner because it can get very whimsical. I’m always waiting for that ‘right feeling’ that I get when the desired mood has been achieved. For example, the photos in Polar Warmth were shot using three different film stocks. For some of them, I increased the saturation and accentuated the pinks. Others I didn’t edit at all, particularly the ones shot out of the plane window. I underexposed these at the time of shooting because I had a feeling it would bring out the colours of the sunrise. It was the most intense sunrise I’d ever seen in my life.
The project ‘Hypnosis’ 2016 is set in such a tranquil and interesting location, how do you choose your destinations for your projects?
This project is set in Abisko in the very north of Sweden. I had always wanted to hike in snowy arctic lands, and when I suggested this to my friends, they were also very much up for it. I was looking for places in Scandinavia mainly, and I must have been googling ‘scenic Scandinavian train routes’ when I came across Abisko. I’m always thinking about new places to see, particularly ones that look otherwordly. Other projects were set in more familiar locations, like my hometown or places I used to know as a kid.
Who / what inspires you to create such experimental and beautiful work?
I'm hugely in awe of nature and vast landscapes, and I think I've grown up with an overly-romanticised view of the idea of living in the middle of nowhere, where life is slow-paced, freedom is abundant and there is plenty of opportunity for emotional reflection. I find it incredible how feeling small in this world can actually stir up our imaginations and inspire us more than anything. I'm currently at a point in my life where I feel I have the time and energy to explore this further by actually visiting some of the landscapes that I've been longing to see. I’m also inspired by magical moments in everyday life that you need not travel thousands of miles to get to. Some of my favourite photos are ones I’ve taken of my family and friends.
What advice would you give to aspiring photographers like myself?
The main piece of advice I feel I can give is to share your work on social media - Flickr, Tumblr and Instagram. In my experience, connecting with photographers and artists on these platforms has been the most enriching part of my photographic journey. There are some amazing people out there, and each of them can influence your work in ways you never thought possible. This can also help you decide if you’d like your photos to express recurring themes which you can then continue to build on. This shouldn’t stop you from venturing into unknown territory, but I just mention it because I think it can be a very valuable way of adding depth to an ever-growing collection of work.
What are your plans for the future in regards to your photographic work?
My future plans involve building my own darkroom, and when I’m not tucked away in there, hopefully continuing to explore more wonderful landscapes with friends.
