Elemental

• Photographer
  Patty Maher
• Prizes
  Silver in Fine Art/Collage

This is a surreal collage series which draws meaning from our associations and relationship to natural light sources and their ability to create tone and mood. Paired down to a minimalist set of stylized elements each photo conveys meaning through a metaphor of light: a bright moon indicates hope, a silver moon sets a tone of longing or romance, a high sun gives rise to nostalgia with long summer shadows, a sunset conveys a sense of wistful sadness, In the last photo this metaphor breaks down when we are faced with light that is atypical and not something for which we have clear associations.

Patty Maher is an internationally recognized, award winning fine art and conceptual photographer based in Caledon, Ontario. The inspiration for her photography comes from an exploration of storytelling in both natural and urban settings. Working primarily through staged portraiture and self-portraiture Maher is widely known for hiding or obscuring the faces of her subjects using only posture, gesture, symbol and colour to convey emotion and story.