La Natura

Maia Rachel

A grainy, high-contrast black and white extreme close-up of a person's eye and upper cheek. The prominent, dark eyebrow curves diagonally across the top, while the skin is light and slightly blurred. The partially open eye features a dark pupil and iris, with bright, jagged, lightning-like white reflections glinting intensely from the lower half of the eyeball and inner corner, suggesting wetness or a light source. Significant motion blur is visible, especially around what appears to be a blurred finger gently touching the skin below the lower lash line, adding to the dynamic and intense artistic effect.

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

    A graphic with the word 'Inhale' in solid white, bold, sans-serif font centered at the top, followed by 'Exhale' below it in the same font, but with a translucent effect that fades towards the bottom. The background is a vertical gradient from a dark blue-gray at the top to a light sky-blue at the bottom, all overlaid with a subtle grainy texture.

    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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