"The most honest moments are the ones where people forget they are being watched. That’s where I try to stay."
Mus doesn’t think of her approach as something grand or overly defined - it is just something she notices about herself when she’s photographing people. She says, “While some people shy away when the camera points at them, I shy away when my subject looks at me and my camera because it’s like the moment has been disturbed. I like to capture people when they are immersed in whatever situation they’re in, or whatever emotions they’re feeling."
She is most drawn to people when they are fully absorbed in what they are doing - when they are not performing or considering how they appear, but simply living inside the moment. That, to her, is where something honest reveals itself.
She notices that the instant someone becomes aware of the camera, something almost always changes. There is a quiet performance that slips in without intention. “The moment my subject notices me and my camera, they will subconsciously ‘perform’, fix their hair, straighten their posture, put on a ‘proper’ smile (which ends up awkward at times) I like to snap when people look like they've forgotten they are being watched.” In her work, Mus tries to remain just outside the moment, gently observing rather than directing it. Her intention is simple: to make the viewer feel not like a distant observer, but as if they were fully present within the moment as it unfolded.
