The Naked Distance

Maxime Ballesteros shoots people the way you’d want to be seen by someone who already knows you—close, a little exposed, not entirely comfortable but not flinching either. His series Love Me, I’m Trying has the quality of intimacy under negotiation: the subjects are offering something and not quite sure yet what it will cost them. Beautiful and slightly raw, which is the only combination that makes photography worth looking at for more than thirty seconds.