Daniele Mah’s photographs of women artists portrayed with their work, has its roots in historical photographic portraiture, her many references include Dora Maar and Man Ray as well as Angus McBean with his surrealist leanings, her inquisitive mind and many references from both artists and photographers from the past to the present day has left her with an enduring fascination for innovative portraiture. For her, beyond the process itself, the technical expertise of framing and lighting her subject, is the rapport, sensitivity and personal connection she has with her sitters, the vital umbilical that draws her to the genre. Working alone with no assistants she explains that there is often a ‘sense of awkwardness when people are placed in front of the camera’ which she tries to dispel ‘by using humour to defuse any tension and the inevitable female connection’ it’s a strategy that helps the artistic symbiosis between her subject, herself and her camera lens’.

Many of Mah’s past assignments as a professional portrait photographer have been for high profile newspapers and magazines, varied and engaging as they are, this series is different; It is her personal conception and an ongoing project that started five years ago during conversation’s with the art critic Edward Lucie Smith. As a portrait photographer and with her deep passion for art and photography she found herself naturally drawn to figurative art. Her resulting photographs with their artistic references have been exhibited in several exhibitions. Her continuing interest in the subject matter of female figurative artists led to her compiling notes and sketches utilized to visualise the compositions and scenarios in advance of her sittings. ‘Using a medium format camera as her tool, her powerfully interpretive vision creates a synergy between her ideas and impressions, the sitters and their art’

– by  Jean Wainwright