Moscow-born photographer Maya has always felt the urge to express her self-identity, whilst accepting that not everyone will understand her - or her art. Though the Russian lifestyle pressured her to conform in many ways to the societal norm during her upbringing, Maya utilized the unique energy she understood within herself and used it to cultivate her craft. The feeling of not being completely satisfied with her works to date, drives Maya to invest more time, energy, and aspects of herself into future shoots and projects.

You’ve mentioned that you don’t necessarily like Moscow as a city where you feel free to create. What was it like growing up with that same feeling? Was it difficult to experiment and find your identity amongst so many who disapproved of going outside the status-quo?
I would not say that it was easy. At first I was wildly shy of myself, I had a bunch of complexes. Naturally, I felt social pressure from peers and parents. My parents and I often quarreled because of my views on life and hobbies, now they seem to have reconciled. And I myself reconciled with my inner world and started to get high, feeling wildly unique energy in me.

What was experience attending art school like? Did you find it to be a valuable experience and would you recommend it? Of course, I really loved the art school. She gave me a good foundation, revealing as a person. There I had my first ideas, acquaintances, friends, parties, constant talk about art. All this was wildly inspiring, even though I didn’t even think about photography then, it just inspired me to live.

What are some of your favorite shoots you’ve ever done?
To be honest, I’m not quite enough for 100% of any of my works, but now I feel that many works have begun to look better, I have begun to work more, invest more in shooting, and for me this is the coolest thing. I want to leave more and more particles of myself in my work

Many believe there is power in expressing a woman’s sexuality in unconventional ways. Would you want your art to have the power to inspire and empower beyond what is your personal creativity and creation?
I don’t want to share my work or mine. It is for everyone. I always have a wild desire to show people that you can see this world differently. I like when people are inspired by my work, they stop being afraid of something, look somehow wrong, and so on. I do not ask that I or my works be understood, I ask only to enjoy them. I want to show that no matter where you come from and how much money you have, you can do everything, because each of us has everything, even if we live in Russia. I would like, thanks to me, to begin to appreciate and respect art here, to be interested in it, and not just to fuck up that no one can do anything here just because we are in Russia. Yes, nobody can do anything anywhere if he doesn’t do anything, but only fucks.

Why do you think art has such a power to connect people? As you said, if there is no connection between you and the model, the whole shoot ends up being unenjoyable and the work subpar.
For me, art is the greatest force for uniting and understanding people.

How do you come up with the concepts for your shoots? Are they curated with the model in mind? Or more generalized ideas that turn into something greater?
I have quite a lot of images in my head, once worked out once not very. Often a lot is added during the shooting process. moot point.

Would you ever consider moving out of Russia in continuation of your art?
I really love Russia, only because I was born here I have a wild inspiration. but I understand that there are unlikely to be any major projects. But on the other hand, in the era of the Internet, nothing prevents me from working abroad. I am doing this now, although I understand that in order to have more work, you need to go to other countries, because sometimes in Russia it is difficult to do something, and besides, you need to communicate live with many people and not just via the Internet. This is much easier to work with. Especially when it comes to the visual component, I need to see everything, only what I see, then merges into a single image