Today we’d like to introduce you to Robin Elise Maaya.
Hi Robin Elise, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
“With one hand in the dishpan, the other in the darkroom…” – Imogen Cunningham
I am an artist. I am a photographer. I am a woman. I am a painter, a writer, a collector; but mostly, I am human. It is in the humanity – in the life – around me that beckons me to the camera over and over again. It is the children dancing wild and free, carelessly jumping on trampolines and swimming in shallow creeks that make my heart flutter and crave the moment I release the shutter. I am here Earthside if not only to live, but to tell the stories of strangers, lovers, family and children, and to tell my own story.
I find my passion continuously lying in the hands of the children around me; whether they are the children I nanny or kids I meet just once, I am constantly fascinated by the fearlessness and wisdom that young lives possess. I have found myself solely photographing kids on a 4×5 view camera and that has brought forth an entirely different relationship between me and the camera and the camera and my subjects. There will forever be something special about this wooden beast that calls upon not only children, but myself, to slow down and truly take in the warm embrace that comes over you when you know you got “the one”.
If I am not photographing the lives that are ever-rotating around me, I am likely photographing myself or creating extended self-portraiture to tell my own story. I am a firm believer that a picture really is worth a thousand words and should be used to further express our individual experiences of humanhood. The body of work that I am currently bringing to life is titled “EXODUS” and focuses on childhood trauma, the bittersweetness of growing up, and the desire to tell my story through photographs of myself and the reimagining of sacred childhood moments. With photography at its foundation and memories at its core, I aim to convey my feelings regarding my childhood coming to a close while focusing on the happiest and most traumatic memories I have stored away.
A dear friend of mine once sent me a letter saying this: “You have a gift…and it’s not just talent…you were selected to leave our legacy. The power you have…you can tell your own story, my story, their story….”, and that is exactly what I intend to do.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been more challenges along my path than I could express in a single interview, but to say it has been a journey would be an understatement. I have had to face traumas and hurdles along my path like anyone else; but I would not change a thing. I am a firm believer that although our traumas do not define us, they help to make us who we are as human beings. I trust that everything must happen for a reason and that every obstacle along the way is placed to challenge us in ways that will make us better people – better artists. I, for one, know my work would not be what it is without the hardships I have had to work through. From childhood trauma to rehabilitation and institutions at an early age to heartbreak, death, grief, and finding my worth, it has all been a journey that has seldom been easy but absolutely necessary to come out on the other end where I am. I try to take every challenge as it comes and somehow make art out of it. Making work about the traumas I have faced not only helps me process it all and give it the attention it deserves but shows me my worth as an artist and a person. If I can prove to myself that if I can make art out of it, at least there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I have been an artist from the first moments I can dig up in my memory. I used to run around the house drawing anything that caught my eye from dogs to family members to still life’s of my messy childhood bedroom. Everyone in my family always knew I would be an artist – not only because of my very early love for all things drawing and painting – but because of my namesake. I was named after my great Aunt Robin who was also a painter and artist of many forms and variables. I sadly never got to meet her, but we all always knew she was within me both spiritually and artistically. It was through her father, my Great Grandfather, that photography was first placed within my reach. He was a photographer during World War II and always had a camera in hand for as long as I can remember. Somewhere along the way, at about the age of ten, he decided to share his love with me and buy me a camera. That was the beginning, but certainly not the end. From that point forward, I knew I was going to be a photographer one day. I fell in love with documenting love, life, and stories wherever I went. Now, after getting a degree in photography from SCAD, I look back on those moments as a child and I am beyond thankful for the influence these family members had on me as an artist and photographer. My work now focuses, still, on documenting life that is ever-flowing around me. Whether it is capturing children with a victorian 4×5 view camera or taking self-portraiture or even using polaroids and a disposable camera to document the regulars at my favorite bar, I am always finding myself obsessively in love with documenting life in every way. No matter what the visual outcome may be, I can guarantee that at the core of every image is the desire to tell a story.
Contact Info:
- Email: robin.maaya@gmail.com
- Website: robinmaaya.com
- Instagram: robinbirdy
Image Credits:
Robin Elise Maaya
