La Natura

Maia Rachel

La Natura explores the emotional turbulence of femininity and the complexities of coming of age through a single, deliberate choice: using my own body as the subject. By turning the camera on myself, I move between positions — the one who looks and the one who is looked at — examining how young women are observed, represented, and shaped during adolescence and puberty. This work sits at the intersection of internal experience and external perception, revealing the layered and often conflicting pressures surrounding femininity and the female form. The images ask what it means to be gazed at, compartmentalized, and expected to be complacent — and what it looks like to refuse that.

About The Artist

Maia Rachel

Maia Rachiele is a Toronto-based mixed media photographer whose love for the image began at a young age with her parent's old point-and-shoot digital camera, since then she has walked through life with a camera in hand and a love for capturing people authentically. She now works across both digital and film workflows, finding passion in portraiture, weddings, automotive photography, and beyond. Rooted in a belief that everything is made with art and deserves to be captured as such, her practice is driven by an authentic connection to her subjects.

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