Most people have never been photographed as who they actually are.
They have been photographed smiling at the right moment, standing at the right angle, looking like a good version of themselves on a good day.
That is not the same thing.
He came for his sixtieth birthday.
He wanted to be photographed in the park where he'd spent time as a young man. The place that still held something of who he was before life asked him to set himself aside.
Before we started, he told me he felt uncomfortable. That this was strange. That he wasn't sure what he was doing here.
I said: let's just be together. Move from place to place. See what works. There's no agenda.
And that's what we did. We walked by the stream, past the trees, outside the gallery. He sat on a rock in the afternoon light.
Three scheduled hours became five. I could feel he didn't want it to end. And honestly — neither did I.
When I sent him the images, he was quiet for a moment. Then he said: I didn't know that's how I looked.
I asked him if that was a good thing.
He said: I didn't know you saw me as so handsome.
Five years later, he came back. Same park. Same afternoon light. Same conversation.
He remembered what it felt like to be seen.
The Mazyn Experience begins before the camera is raised.
It begins with a conversation. I read you — your character, your nature, what is true about you. By the time we move into the session, I already know what wants to be seen.
Then we photograph.
I direct not by telling you how to stand or where to look, but by reading what is already there and drawing it forward. Something often shifts in the room. That is not an accident.
What you receive:
A curated gallery of up to nine images — the most true, not the most flattering.
Three fine art prints, yours to keep.
A personal note from me — what I saw, what is particular about you, what is most magnetic and most irreplaceably yours.
The Mazyn Experience is available as a digital session. For something more rare — an analog session with hand-printed portraits is available and priced separately. Travel sessions also available. Please enquire via contact form.
Martyna Maz is an artist based in Glasgow, UK. Sessions in person across Glasgow and Edinburgh.