INTRODUCING MAIA MOON AKIVA
I was born in Michigan and have lived here my whole life. We have a love-hate relationship; sometimes I hate a freezing cold Tuesday followed by a moderately warm Wednesday, but I love the beautiful trees and fall season here. I am seventeen years old. I started taking photos a few years ago at about the same time I started high school. I enrolled in a photography course there and it was ‘love at first press of the shutter.’ Once I started, I couldn’t stop. Taking photographs is, for me, kind of like when someone writes down their dreams on a notebook right when they wake up. It is my diary, mostly of my dreams and the visions I see in my head and feel the need to transform into pictures. My photographs are my emotions and thoughts put on film for the world to see. My life changed when I started taking photos. I use photography as an outlet to ‘express myself’ (cheesy, but true). Without photography I wouldn’t have experienced the world as I do today. Every minute of the day I see pictures in my mind, almost as if my eyes work as little camera lenses. Photography has certainly changed my way of seeing and viewing my surroundings. I love how my Canon AE-1’s light leaks are little blue pentagons. This photo above is of my girlfriend; we were shooting random pictures outside one night and I put my AE-1 flash onto my digital camera and it made magic… sometimes even if you don’t have an idea in your head when you start shooting, you can experiment and come up with something just as great or even greater. There are so so so many photographers who inspire me. Lately I have been extremely inspired by Hellen Van Meene. I love her work because it is so truthful and raw but still lingers in your mind and leaves a mystery.
