This freedom also applies to her workflow. She’s learned to accept that creativity is unpredictable, not something she can expect to stay (or disappear) forever. “I used to get worried if I lost my inspiration, but now I know that that I just need to be patient and it will come back.” She doesn’t try to force herself to follow through with a pre-set plan, nor does she feel frustrated when she isn’t feeling creative or inspired. “I just found it boring to take shots of myself.” By photographing herself and others without faces, she felt more artistic freedom and could break past that boredom.įreedom is at the core of Patty’s overall approach to photography and the creative process. “I found I was never happy with my photos as they just looked like pictures of me,” she explains. At first, she tried showing her face in the picture, but the repetitiveness of her own image struck her as dull. This “faceless” trend started when Patty began doing self-portraits. Rather than frustrating the viewer, her models’ facelessness actually adds to each photo’s mystery and emotional strength. In many of her photos, the models’ faces are hidden by their long hair or by their body’s pose, turned away from the camera. Perhaps the most unique part of Patty’s portraiture is her “faceless” subjects. “I love different things about each of these photographers – mainly that they each have their own unique voice and the ability to capture their subjects in very interesting and engaging compositions.” Some of her favorites are Katerina Belkina, Jennifer Hudson and Bara Prasilova, as well as Julia Fullerton-Batton, who she recently discovered. “I think the small moments of life can sometimes be the most inspirational,” she says.Īlongside these stories, she follows and admires the work of many photographers. Fairy tales, myths, and literature are all sources of inspiration for her, but so are true stories about everyday struggles and joys. Her visualized stories have roots in stories that have inspired her, both fiction and nonfiction. At first glance, these scenes look simple and familiar, yet the longer you gaze at the portraits, the more striking and surreal they appear. These stories often take place in natural settings, like forests, fields, and country roads. “More than anything, I enjoy the stories that can be created in a single frame of a portrait,” she says. Portraits have caught her interest because of their potential for telling stories. Patty Maher is an Ontario-based fine art photographer whose work focuses on portraiture, especially self-portraits.
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