Maia Flore:  Magician with the Lens

 HYDERABAD: It’s a ‘fantastic’ array of twenty-eight images that transport the spectator instantly into a subtle world of surrealism. Artist-photographer, Maia Flore, has invested every ounce of her creative juices into each frame mounted in the Alliance Française gallery, Banjara Hills. A highly sophisticated narrative takes the spectator on a tour which is essentially French and elegant. 

A part of the Bonjour India festival, Imagine France, was opened to the public on November 20. The exhibition is conceived as an avant-garde photo travelogue that portrays the old and the new, from a completely edgy vantage point. The photographer’s journey into her country also leads the viewer to a historic France which is captured in a completely modern light. At each of these sites, she unveils moments of surprises, disrupting memories of set images. The promotional text refers this show as “…an original and out-of-the-ordinary look at French cultural heritage – which takes us through a dream-filled voyage through the most beautiful cultural sites of France.”

In order to put this amazing travel records together, Maia Flore keeps switching creative roles – from a photographer to a performing director, from a designer to art director, from a choreographer to a stylist, she lives up to many creative challenges which produce bespoke images of an extraordinary kind. 
Although surreal in nature, Maia Flore’s content is like poetry in motion. It seems like the artist in her expands from her person to envelop the space she chooses to play with.

Therefore, the human in her landscapes becomes an element, leading the eye to inspect the space it is installed in. Castles, museums, churches, grottoes, parks, groves, and more are staged everywhere, inviting the viewer to enter. ‘‘Having the keys to the castle gives one ideas,’’ says Maia Flore in jest.
Balancing between reality and imagination she transforms old spaces into entirely new visuals. Born in the digital era, she applies technology to her advantage. The essay describing her mentions: “She belongs to the “new photography” digital generation, where images are constructed and captured in equal parts, where post-production contributes to the final result as much as the image in the shutter, transforming everyday scenes.” 

Born in 1988 in France, she signed with Agence VU’ in 2011. Having worked in Sweden and Finland, she later continued to work at the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, California. She currently lives in Paris. 
Launched in 2014, the Imagine France project was conceived by the Cluster Tourism and Culture of Atout France in partnership with the Institut Français and Vu‘Agency. 
The show is on till November 30