Power and vulnerability are central to The Blindfold Project. In this ongoing series of images, artist Maxwell Lander confronts the photographer-photographed dynamic by mixing up the traditional 'gaze' and creative authority that is given to those holding a camera. When the project began, Lander herself was unsure of what to expect. She hoped to provide a safe space for models to explore relationships to their bodies, and encouraged them to let their guard down while the photographer's (creative) eye was removed from the scenario. What she didn't anticipate was her own vulnerability as she found herself pulled outside of her element.
Handing over creative control to her models, Lander has spent each shoot sitting with a blindfold covering her eyes. Focus (and aim!) has been manual and intuitive, with only a voice or the occasional sound of movement as guidance. The results so far have been varied and wonderfully surprising: some shoots are funny and playful, some wild and artistic, some raunchy and intensely sexual. Everyone has taken the space in front of the camera to a new place.
Handing over creative control to her models, Lander has spent each shoot sitting with a blindfold covering her eyes. Focus (and aim!) has been manual and intuitive, with only a voice or the occasional sound of movement as guidance. The results so far have been varied and wonderfully surprising: some shoots are funny and playful, some wild and artistic, some raunchy and intensely sexual. Everyone has taken the space in front of the camera to a new place.
Feel free to visit lust, envy, pride, greed, gluttony, and wrath! For the rest of my portrait work and other choices from each shoot, go to my flickr. If you want to hire me for a shoot email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and we will work it out!
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