Maki LeVine | Tokyo
Maki LeVine is a Fine Art Photographer and Art Therapist from Australia currently based in Tokyo. Her work is elegant, visceral and deeply connected to the human experience.
Read our interview with Maki below.
How did you first get into photography?
I first discovered photography as my creative outlet in my late teens. This medium felt natural as a place to explore feelings, thoughts, and desires; particularly when I was unable to verbally express the contradictory experiences.
While first keen on human portraiture, I discovered my passion for landscapes in Yosemite National Park after loading an old canister of black and white film into my camera in my late teens. The prints exaggerated the arch of a granite wall, which mimicked the curves of a naked human body. Therein, I discovered my niche in fine art photography.
I fell in love with blending the landscape with the human body and exploring this theme of our connection to nature, our similarities and our fragility. For me it is as much about the process of creating the image as it is about the end product.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned through photography?
I have learned that photography can be as much a creative tool as a therapeutic tool. Photography is a medium that I can use to represent how I see myself and how I perceive the world. My medium format camera is as central to this process as the image.
A camera becomes an attachment object for photographic art making. The experience of holding a camera becomes part of the concentration process – the way the eye looks through a lens to find the field of vision – it requires a certain intention. In this way, my camera has become a vehicle for meditation, tuning out of my thoughts and focusing on the photographic set up or landscape.
A photograph can also be altered to communicate feelings, such as if I felt like I was living in fog I could purposefully blur the image to represent my current state. Photographic exploration allows me to tell a story and highlight things from the past, present and future. To photograph is to have a visual study of my life and the world around me.
Can you share a memorable project or photo series you’ve worked on?
My most memorable photo series came at a time during lockdown in Melbourne, Australia where I turned to my camera for guidance. With studios closed, I claimed my top floor open balcony as my home studio and created a series as a defiant ‘adaptation’ to this uncertain time when close contact was restricted.
I exposed my camera and nude models (housemates during isolation) to natural elements, which would usually be controlled in a studio environment. On the unprotected balcony, elements dictated fleeting surprises I was meant to capture. Clouds scattered light across an exposed torso; wind sent chills through two covered nude bodies who responded by huddling together.
Under these conditions, the composition of images could not be scripted. In the face of social isolation during this global pandemic, exposing ourselves to the whim of the sky each day brought with it a sense of connection.
