Maria Lax - The Other Crowd

Over the past decade, Maria Lax (b. 1987) has been traveling around the world asking people to tell her a story about something they believe in. The resulting folkloric accounts, be it modern or ancient, have been an inspiration for the three series in this The Other Crowd exhibition. Some Kind of Heavenly Fire about UFO sightings set in a remote small town in Finland, The Blessed Folk delving into fairy beliefs in rural Ireland and exploration of the mythical Kankurang in The Gambia show landscapes and people through almost apparition-like visions. With her recognisable style and mostly in-camera effects, the works occupy the elusive and shifting space between fact and fiction. In her own words, the images are an attempt at lifting the curtain to other worlds beyond ours, thus painting a portrait of humanity with all its vivid colour.

Maria Lax is a Finnish photographer and director based in London and Ireland. Her projects explore themes of identity, belief and modern folklore and have been widely exhibited internationally. She has created commercial work for clients including Apple, Channel 4, Vogue Italia, Virgin Records, British Telecom and Samsung.