The MaryAnn Camilleri Mixtape

The MaryAnn Camilleri Mixtape by Aline SmithsonNovember 1, 2013

MaryAnn Camilleri Simponsized

I enjoy being able to push and inspire photographers and help them attain their goals. For that alone, I would say I have an excellent track record. Of late, I have seen our name on many projects, books and exhibitions and it makes me feel good that I have made a difference, and in some way, a significant contribution.

I think the fact that today’s Mixtape feature has a Simpson-esque portrait to kick off the post hints at the person behind the cartoon. I met MaryAnn Camilleri at the Flash Forward Festival in Boston in 2012, where she had invited me to lecture and offered me an exhibition (yes, I am over 34). I wasn’t prepared for the life force behind the Magenta Foundation–a spirited, enthusiastic, engaging leader with laser focus and drive. She’s the kind of person who, when she walks into a room, makes everything better. The food is more delicious, the music danceable, and the cocktails have a bit more punch. She has a warm personality that pulls you in, but also has the true qualities of a visionary leader.

The Magenta Foundation is a multi-tiered organization that is all about promoting, exposing, and celebrating photography and photographers. The Foundation’s reach goes far beyond the Flash Forward Exhibition (limited to emerging photographers under 34). The organization offers opportunities for exhibition for photographers of all ages, is a publisher, and is building a significant photography collection. The Magenta Foundation exhibitions are in-gallery and often in public spaces, bringing photography to new and unique environments that really spark and engage the interest of the community. The Festivals include lectures, exhibitions on site and throughout the cities, networking, panel discussions, and evening events. On a personal note, I was honored to be a juror and curator for the 2013 Flash Forward Exhibition and know from the inside out, what a quality organization this is–and how lucky our community is to have Ms. Camilleri steering the ship.

On November 7th, the third stop on the Flash Forward Exhibition tour will open in London at Photofusion. After traveling from Toronoto to Boston and ending in London, a group of talented emerging photographers will have received international exposure on walls around the world, will be featured in the hard cover catalog, and become part of the Magenta Foundation Family. It’s a yearly launching pad for photographers that is simply incredible.

It is with great pleasure that I introduce the MaryAnn Camilleri Mixtape!

Tell us about growing up and what brought you to photography.

I collected fashion magazines obsessively when I was around 9 years old, and tore out pages that moved me. I created scrapbooks of these images and kept them in private places in my bedroom. I was so drawn to light, colour, shapes, textures and most of all PAPER! Coming from a family of non-artist appreciation, I hid all I did until I hit high school and then it really poured out of me. I think I picked up my first camera when I was 13 and photographed my girlfriends and my dog. I loved the entire experience, and more so, dropping the film off to Black’s and returning in a week with my hard-earned allowance to collect the prints.

It then became my entire focus, and like all the things I do, I sat in the library for hours at a time, looked at books, of all sorts of art and photography, and knew this was the arena I would be part of one day. Mind you, there is something to be said for being self-taught. I learned everything from reading books, making a shitload of mistakes and most of all, asking questions. I convinced my parents to put a darkroom downstairs in the kitchen when I was 15, and I never looked back. By the time I left high school, I was totally absorbed in photography. I was hanging around cool kids that dressed in very fashion-forward ways, so it made taking their photos pleasurable. We always found reasons to run around the city and take photos.

Graduating high school at an earlier age, I took a few years off to become independent and explore the world. Although I wasn’t photographing during that time, I was deep in my head, plotting my photography work. By the time I was 21, I applied to Ryerson and was accepted. You might say, I had a very clear focus of what I wanted from my schooling and I knew the kind of photographer I wanted to be. University was a good experience and I took every advantage of it to explore the medium to its fullest and also to create my first long term project, that was published when I was 26.

From getting my first book published to starting a magazine with a few friends, and learning how to make books, all before age 29, that’s where my desire for publishing crept in. Books and paper are my thing. I can’t walk into a book store without smelling the pages of book [and in case you don’t know this, cheap books smell badly!] and I collect little, interesting bound books that I write in. People laugh at me when they see me look at a book, because the first thing I do is smell the pages to see if the printer used good paper stock, then I look at the spine to see how the book was bound and in which manner the paper is being held together, and lastly, I always start from the back of a book.

Its easy to see why I am in the position I am today, even though, my journey, was quite convoluted and all over the place.

What is your title and job description and tell us about a typical day?

I am the Founder and The Magenta Foundation and the Director of Flash Forward Festival. In simple terms…..I am a jack of all traits, a kick-ass producer.

My typical day is answering about 250 emails a day…. And I do my best to manage everything we have going on and my teams, in all the cities we work in.

And at Night, I tune everything out, have dinners with my gays [for those of you who don’t know I have a posse of amazing gay men who I spend a majority of my free time with and they travel with me as well. They are my family and where all my fearlessness comes. Straight women + gay men = a lethal collaboration.

I created my job and foundation to suit my attention span, I have no complaints and love working as much as I do.