I ♥ Maya

Maya Villiger is a photographer of integrity and dedication, whose principal subjects are interesting looking and hip girls found on the streets of New York, Paris, London and LA. Her portraits sometimes remind me of watercolours or photorealist paintings, and eschews drama of subject or treatment. She has chosen a difficult path, and one which already attracts a lot of competition, particularly dominated by men. I’ve been a huge fan of her work for a long time and not just because she is a friend. She quietly and immediately discovers the most unfailingly stylish characters, demonstrating not only impressive technical achievements but also the rare ability to grasp the distinction between mediocre and the simultaneously inspiring and stylish. Her photographs are soft, its aim residing in the subtlest differentiations of tone and placing. Her compositions are always exquisite subjects for contemplation. The lighting is a significant factor in her work and always delicately establishes the atmosphere. I’ve seldom seen street style pictures so full of truth and humour while at the same time giving you refreshing and beautiful imagery. That alone is amazing. I’ve never seen her at work so I don’t know what her approach is or how she shoots but there is no shortage of difficulties when you embark on a project like hers. Her strengths ensure that ideas dominate and take shape perfectly from the moment they were first formulated. Many of her contemporaries don’t provide the same emotion and perfection, they don’t master their material like she does and lack the sureness of her touch and her unique, consistently scintillating compositions. I guess they have a predisposition to take stale and tiresome snapshots whereas she puts together stunningly beautiful scenes. Her alchemy has worked on me. I treasure many of her images and at the risk of sounding like a complete teenager, I’ll even tell you that several of her photos can be found cellotaped on the inside doors of my wardrobe. Nuggets of inspiration and style!

All pictures courtesy of Turned Out

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18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Such wonderful photos! :)

Anonymous said...

i love love love it! hot blog. hot kitty cat! ; )
much love from frankfurt

(www.halfalotus.blogspot.com)

carmen.

Madelene said...

Oh, I adore these. I've been awfully sick of street style photos lately, but these girls look creative and like they have their own style.

Anonymous said...

i can thank YOU for introducing me to turned out. every picture that maya takes is perfect - as are her subjects' choice of attire. thank you! xo

IAMTHEANGELNEGRO said...

AMAZING PHOTOS!
SO COOL!!


XXX

leeselooks said...

stunning! i just looked through all her photos a few weeks ago.
i fell in love with her sisters post.

i love that they are real girls, not models or highly- styled people knowing they will be photographed!

X

Manzoni said...

Have you seen the self-portraits on the Frau Braun vintage clothing site? http://fraubraun.com/shop

Anonymous said...

such sharp photos, real nice. and that womans dungaress...need please!
You have a really lovely blog here <3
x

Anonymous said...

love your blog!

i think you'd like this online fashion magazine!

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ayura said...

hey maya...amazing..work..you had some cool pics in your colection
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Anonymous said...

i love that first shot so so much. it is impossible for me to tire of streetstyle.

roxanne said...

wow, these really do take the overly saturated genre of street style photograph up a notch or two... love these.

La page d'Estelle said...

Congatulation for this excellent Blog , a great crossover of color and fellings!

I'll be back!
Estelle

the Eccentric Kay said...

the pictures are so carefree & just unbelievably stunning!

nycrun said...

wow nice selection of images and looks
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NADINE said...

sooo great!

xx

Anonymous said...

good pictures. Powerful, good faces and wearable very often.

BrookandLyn said...

The girl with the coffee...its permanently embedded in my head as perfection in its imperfection. This collage of women is just the sensibility that I'm drawn to.