SHOTTAS: RICHARD MAITLAND: STILL LIFE

Words by fayemi shakur | Images by Richard Maitland

Richard Maitland doesn’t take photos that scream for attention. Still, they’re intriguing. Most of his photos are not directed, constructed or posed. They have a street photography aesthetic that reveal an attention to environment and human nature. By capturing these images, he says, he learns about himself.

“I’m not so sure what I’m looking for when I’m shooting. I learn more when looking back at what I’ve photographed. It’s very much about self-discovery and people allowing me to have a space in their world and figuring out what’s going on in me,” explains 44 year-old Maitland, who was born in England and raised in Jamaica until he was 12. “There’s a stillness that’s found in the chaos of life. Those little moments are what I encounter with someone and something about that attracts me.”

Photography began as a hobby for Maitland but a passion for it developed over time. After moving to Queens and later Long Island with his family, a high school course served as his first introduction. Later, he stumbled across the photography school at the Fashion Institute of Technology where he later studied. “I liked that instead of simply putting a camera in your hand they also taught students design and art history. I think it benefits people to have a broader perspective on things. Different schools of thought help me make better photography as an image maker,” he says.

His inspiration includes artists known and unknown, friends and strangers. Twenty years ago when he began, he was inspired by landscapes, the Ansel Adams of the photography world. “The technical part was incredible to me and I was drawn to composition and space and designing in that space. It had a lot to do also with my own issues with space and facing people, which I got to deal with by taking pictures. It’s the very personal side of why I do this,” Maitland elaborates. “By default I am studying people and wondering what’s going on in people’s minds and the mirror of that against me and what is going on in my mind and all the issues that pop up.”

Maitland also works as a commercial photographer and since he’s never sought grants, such work helps finance his personal projects. At the end of one commercial job in Jamaica, he began his Jamaica series in 1995, shooting in his grandmother’s neighborhood called Thompson Pen. “It’s what I relate to and it’s home. If not for a level of chance, I could be right back there. Even though I’m not even showing the real hard stuff, some people don’t see what the rest of the world looks like and the kind of choices we have. Jamaica is very beautiful and painfully tragic as well, those things next to each other.”

“In New York when I show my portfolio people want to see personal work. It struck me how many people were unaware of the rest of the world and what other people have to deal with. What would often happen is people would recognize the kind of abundance that’s here when they see life outside of the West. This struck me more so in Cambodia and Laos than Jamaica,” he recalls. “Seeing a level of poverty and looking at the façade, the appearance of someone who doesn’t seem to be angry and bitter and trying to understand that and how that can be. You begin to think: how can you smile and embrace me while giving me some of the little you have to eat?”

Maitland’s next project will focus on a group he is passionate about called TOCO (They Often Cry Outreach). TOCO is a non-profit organization based in New York which is launching a soccer scholarship program in St. Lucia. He also has a photo series dedicated to it. “Growing up in Jamaica, there were so many players with incredible talent who after high school had nowhere to go. It’s something that touched me and I hope to help fuel that scholarship program.”

To view more of his photography work visit: www.cargocllective.com/maitland