5MINS with Meggan Joy
Hi Meggan, could you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into photography?
I knew I wanted to be an artist, and I knew I wanted to use photography as my medium from a pretty early age, thanks to the influence of my grandmother who cultivated a creative environment for me. My mom was an amateur photographer as well, so I was taught the basics pretty young, and I took off running.
I had a few years in my early 20's where I doubted my ambitions and disengaged with art but I have since regained my focus and have been pursuing it ever since.
Currently, I live in Seattle with my husband and our dog, making art full time.
You say your work SHE (featured in #PHOTOGRAPHY Mag #16) stemmed from a hurtful comment you received about yourself, has this made the work feel more personal to you?
Yes, it's personal. The language I illustrated in SHE had not only been utilized towards myself but was also the same language I had used to insult other women as well. These idioms are a script that I, and many other women, participate in without a second thought.
It wasn't until my wedding when I was thoroughly humiliated by being called a "trophy wife" and then retaliated by calling my insulter the same in return, that I realized how exhausting and fruitless this cycle was. I could no longer avoid what my own actions had been, so I eventually decided to address it head on.
There is a lot of pressure being a woman; do you think this project will bring forth the difficulties women face to the surface?
I hope it opens internal conversations with women about our own involvement in that pressure. You can look at any of the prints from SHE and view the woman depicted with sympathy or distrust, and depending on how you feel about yourself at any given moment, that perception will change.
This is embarrassing but while hanging the first showing of SHE, the conversation shifted to a former friend of mine. I was tired and nervous and instinctually responded by making a snarky comment about her. I can't believe I did it, especially while I was just inches away from my own work. But I did. If the work didn’t exist like it does, I don’t think I would of even noticed what I had said.
Was there a reason behind calling your work SHE? Do you feel it makes your work more universal?
Naming a series is always important, but in this case, my series is heavily connected to everyday language, so the title was important for setting up and supporting each photograph. My depicted character (portrayed by the talented Cobra Rose) doesn’t have a real name, but “she” is a title attributional to all females, which is all that character needs.
I put "SHE" in all caps because it reminds me of monsters or deities in early literature who commonly had their names displayed similarly. That is my not so subtle nod acknowledging that things we challenge are often the things we should respect the most.
I've received criticism for this title because it was viewed as excluding men from enjoying the work, but I don't agree or see it that way. Interestingly, the majority of my buyers for the series have been men.
Your work has underlying meanings, is making work with narratives a way you prefer working?
I enjoy building a narrative because it comes naturally to me and it's the type of work I prefer viewing myself.
I also am deeply humbled by how my intentions can be internalized by a viewer.
In example: At an artist reception, a man came up to me to talk about the "SHE Used One Stone” photograph. He explained his friend had unfortunately ended his life years ago, and further explained about this friend’s mother who had been vocal in not supporting his same-sex relationship as a potential contributor to his death.
This man had connected to the work because he witnessed how she had killed two birds with one stone. Her son, and a part of herself.
Could you tell us which photographers inspire you to make work and why?
I can stare at the work of Joel-Peter Witkin and Tim Walker, all day, every day and be inspired, challenged and happy.
But the photographer that makes me actually turn off Netflix and make things is my best friend Cat Dossett. She's a wedding\portrait\boudoir photographer and her work ethic is contagious. I'm so thankful I know her, I'm a much better artist for it.
What are you working on at the moment? Will you explore more narrative work in the future?
I recently finished a project called "Warmth" that is a digital collage of thousands of individual photographs of flora and fauna captured over the course of two years. It felt fabulous to finish that monumental task.
Currently, I'm the early stages of making a series called "Interrupted" in which I'm examining that initial period of grief in which normal life stops.
Everything in "Interrupted" has a specific reason for being photographed or placed together, and I'm making everything from the costumes to the glass framing devices that will hold the prints. I even grew and harvested my own wildflowers.
It's by far the biggest project I have ever undertaken and I am already very proud of the work that is done. I hope to start releasing prints from the series by February of 2017. But until then, you can keep up with the work in progress by following the #MJ_INTERRUPTED tag on Instagram or check my public journal of the process on my website.
Thanks Meggan!
Interviewed by Lisa Gillies for #PHOTOGRAPHY Magazine
