Mary Jane is my medicine. She helps me get through the day despite the pains I feel. She gives me strength when I feel weak.  She puts and a smile upon my face.

These are words that resonate with many women. The healing effects of Mary Jane, and the ease it provides in daily life are especially pertinent to the female experience. Women face unique challenges and are put under unique pressures and expectations.  Mary Jane often plays the role of a supportive friend or a helping hand in times when a woman is in need of either. Photographer Maria Cavali captured the essence of women and cannabis culture, at the “We Are Mary Jane” photography exhibit at the Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum in Amsterdam.  The women photographed for the exhibit each shared brief thoughts about what cannabis means to them, including Shiva and Shanti, the namesakes of the strain.

Simple.  Beautiful.  Real.

Jodie Emery, We Are Mary Jane photo exhibit at Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum, Amsterdam, 2018

We Are Mary Jane

We are Mary Jane Framed print on aluminium 50x70cm €800 Evgenia Granta (1988) in coffeeshop Tweede Kamer

“Peace is what Cannabis Culture means to me!”

We are Mary Jane Framed print on aluminium 50x70cm €800 | Tania Costa (1981) in coffeeshop Hill Street Blues

“Cannabis guides me on my spiritual journey.”

We are Mary Jane Framed print on aluminium 50x70cm €800 Jewita Dewy (1991) in coffeeshop Green House

“Smoking a joint to me is like pressing the “go to” button on an advance CD player. You can skip any part of your life and jump to that happy phase.”

We are Mary Jane Framed print on aluminium 50x70cm €800 Nataliia Plakhova (1992) in coffeeshop Funky Monkey

“Cannabis is in our genes!”

We are Mary Jane Framed print on aluminium 50x70cm €800 Shiva and Shanti Spaarenberg (1981) in coffeeshop Club Media

“I think people need to be educated on the fact that marijuana is not a drug. Marijuana is a herb and a flower… and a true friend to me. Thank you Mary Jane!”

About the Mary Jane Photographer:

Maria Cavali, photographer of We Are Mary Jane exhibit in Amsterdam (2018)

Maria became a freelance photographer in 2011 and has been busy photographing for noteworthy clients.

She is familiar with modeling and acting which helped her develop a keen sense of human nature and
personalities. She loves photographing people and capturing stories, and that clearly reflects in her work.

Maria had a very successful recent cooperation with Hemp museum in Amsterdam whereby she made impressive series about woman in cannabis scene called “We are Mary Jane” (photos above).

Maria is now living her dream, keeping the balance between inspiring personal projects and developing her own portrait photography studio.