Bali Sacred & Secret

by Gill Marais

Review by Rachel Greaves
(Jakarta Post)

Interview by La Gazette de Bali
(in French)

Exhibition

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A Passion for Hunting Images

In a sense Gill Marais is not a  photographer at all but rather a painter who uses her camera as a brush and light as her paint. When asked to name photographers she admired, she spoke first of Italian Renaissance painters. Those impressed by the technical sophistication of her work, which makes her a photographer’s photographer, should take note that she stumbled upon her calling rather late in life and thankfully with few pretenses and preconceptions. The result of the combination is refreshingly powerful.

Certainly, too, a secret passion to capture an unknown Bali, where she has lived part of the year for almost two decades, was her preliminary catalyst. After more than a century of photography on the island she was determined to avoid the usual stereotypes.

Marais’s formula for success was as simple as it was profound; “in my personal work, when I am familiar with the subject, I wait for the outer image to match what is already in my mind.” 

Raised in Africa among hunters, she likens photography to the hunt, especially noting the patience needed to capture one’s prey. Working with an ancient Leica SLR M6, she delights in taking photos under low light conditions that would frighten away any but the bravest.

In doing so she reveals a mystical world of ritual and magic that has rarely been seen, much less photographed. This remarkable woman and photographer has proven that there is always another facet of paradise that awaits inspired revelation.

First published by Ganesha Gallery
Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay - June 8, 2004
at the occasion of Gill's first solo exhibition

Gill Marais

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