Self Portrait

• Photographer
  Paul Mahder, United States
• Website
  http://www.paulmahder.com

Self portrait composite image with doors and wood. No digital manipulation.

My work begins with questions. What is the essential reality of our being and our relationship with nature? Is it sacred? How is it evident and can I capture it in a photograph?
Is it possible to create sensual and divine ?clothing? by layering textures from the natural world on the human form? Can I celebrate the sensuality of the human form without depicting it as merely naked?
For example, layering textures on the human body masks individuality, revealing essences and subtleties unseen in single images. This process detaches a figure from the contemporary context and carries it towards a more timeless and contemplative plane. Ironically, intricate textures and layering can uncover the simple and pure.
I am looking for a photographic language that goes beyond the sentimentality of ?oneness with all things? to opening an actual dialogue and learning experience between nature and us. For example, what does the 400-year-old tree bark have to say about my skin? What is my emotional response to decay, age or the lines on my face? Is it a thing of beauty as in the tree?
I think of myself more as a photographic explorer, discovering as much as I create. I am curious about unseen realities. When I dream of flying it seems completely natural, so what happens to that "nature" when I awake? How real are things I imagine, how real can they be?
I am grateful and honored by the trust given to me by those I photograph because I approach photography as a hallowed act. My work represents these shared moments of "truth telling" and the unearthing of the visible world, for the mystery of the sacred within it.
Technical Considerations:

My photographs are taken with the large format, 4" x 5" Wisner Technical Field Camera. Some photographs are single black and white or color images, while others are combinations. With these, I create layered perspectives of the human form and textured landscapes.

These photographs are unaltered by any digital process or printing technique. What you see is what I assembled by hand on my light table.

Prints are made using an Oc? Lightjet 430 on Fuji Flex archival material and limited to editions of 15. Within each edition I offer a range of sizes from 11" x 14" to as large as desired.

I have worked as a professional fine art photographer for over 12 years. My work has been shown internationally in museums, galleries and churches and in private collections worldwide. You can view more of my photography at http://www.paulmahder.com