Expressing Emotional Growth

Featuring Meghan Marin Words by Nastasia Khmelnitski

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The search for a powerful and inspiring narrative that triggers emotions doesn’t have to go too far from what one is acquainted with. Meghan Marin realized that the story she strives to tell might emerge from the familiar, coming from the side of family and friends and their immediate environment.

The uniqueness of the story is related to the personal connection to the individual, the subject that the camera and the photographer bring forward — those experiences that usually are not shared widely. Building the narrative comes with a price, as when working through a family trauma and documenting the moments, the present, and the way it hints at the unpreventable future. In other instances, the story comes to empower by bringing forth the shared experiences of the queer community and the day-to-day life, innovating, in a way, the ongoing conversation and representation of those communities.     

Meghan Marin is a NY-based photographer represented by Tinker Street *, a picture agency and art collective. Meghan graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. In this interview, we discuss the impact studies had on Meghan’s path to refine her research toward returning to a familiar place and people. Meghan says, “I started making work about family and learned that I didn’t have to go far to find an interesting story.“ We speak about the project Thinking of U, in which Meghan focuses on the presentation of queer identity through the mundane, the deep understanding of the person and the layers of individuality through the process of photography. The project Red River (2018 - 2022), the attempt to preserve the memory of a family member passing away due to disease, deals with personal and family trauma and coping mechanisms, such as making images to distance oneself from the painful reality. We close our conversation by speaking about the shift in perception and prism through which Meghan works to approach the new topics.

‘I realized that before I knew much about photo history, I was regurgitating regurgitated work without knowing the root source. Ingesting photo books and understanding the existing landscape of photography changed my course.’

My Story

Hi Meghan, it’s very nice to have you for this interview! How are you doing? Let’s speak about your path: living in Camden, moving to Brooklyn, studying BFA in Advertising Photography, and working as a freelancer. In what way Camden and the Bachelor's degree shaped your approach, your views, and the themes you chose to focus on in your projects?

Hi, thank you so much for having me! 

In my second year of school, I took a class with Kirby Pilcher, who had us bring photo books to class each week. I realized that before I knew much about photo history, I was regurgitating regurgitated work without knowing the root source. Ingesting photo books and understanding the existing landscape of photography changed my course. I fell in love with Alec Soth, amongst others, and felt inspired to make scenes in mundane places like the ones I had access to at home.

I started making work about family and learned that I didn’t have to go far to find an interesting story. When I was younger, I spent a lot of time trying to distance myself from the places that shaped me. After moving to NYC, I felt a strong urge to reexamine my roots.

‘ I think this everyday magic is sometimes looked over for more sensationalized representations of queerness. I would like to see more work that aims to understand queerness beyond sexuality.’

Thinking of U

In the project Thinking of U, the focus is on portraits of people, of friends, presenting the personality through the prism of the city. The topic of queerness is ever-evolving, freeing, and empowering. What is the decisive moment that comes right before you make an image (in terms of conversation, observation, etc.)? What, in your opinion, is still lacking in the art sphere in presenting queer communities? 

My work tends to focus on the daily, intimate parts of queer identity. Very human, imperfect, full of love. I try to capture the connection that happens between people who have a shared path and understand love, heartbreak, and community in similar ways. I think this everyday magic is sometimes looked over for more sensationalized representations of queerness. I would like to see more work that aims to understand queerness beyond sexuality.

Thinking of U is a collaborative process, often shot at home where the space feels like theirs. These portraits are intimate slices of our lives together, a moment given to me through mutual understanding. On my end, I think they express a desire to relate to other queer people. I try to bring my subject’s identity into the image. In one, my friend Taia dances in their studio. My friend Giselle lies on her bed, surrounded by her stuffed animals. As we shoot, we are building a representation of self.

‘The camera can become a shield from your emotions — I worried that I was letting myself get away with not being as present.’

Red River

A very personal and deeply emotional project, Red River (1028 - 2022), touches on the concepts of the slow passing of time, the mundane day-to-day in opposition to challenges life presents, and the glimpse of hope we as humans cherish and hold on to. This triangle — the mundane, the family, and nature — comes as a prism that only by adding up all angles the narrative can be configured and told. What was the main struggle you were working to solve while building the story? 

This project and part of my life have weighed heavily on me for a long time. It was difficult to juggle caregiver burnout with pursuing a project I knew I wanted to finish. I felt like I had to finish it, or else I would lose in more ways than one. The camera can become a shield from your emotions — I worried that I was letting myself get away with not being as present. Most days, making pictures was both catharsis and a chore. It’s deeply personal, yet I struggle with showing it to my family. I worried that they would find it too invasive when for me, it was a way to unpack my reality and capture these memories of my grandmother as they were slipping away from me.

‘My work for the past few years has been fueled by grief, and I really want to leave that part of life behind. I’m trying to heal.’

Family

Family and the unique connection to people in your life is one of the main themes you research, which also allows you to add a more in-depth layer of meaning, compassion, and warmth to your work. How would you describe the driving force of working on images last year and oppose it to the way it might change for you this year? 

My work for the past few years has been fueled by grief, and I really want to leave that part of life behind. I’m trying to heal. I want to wrap up Red River and focus on things that are more joyous and a bit less rooted in capturing what happens right in front of me.

A Sneak Peek

What project/s are you currently working on, and what should we expect next in terms of themes you’re developing? 

Unpacking loss in real-time, before and after death, has led me towards my new work. The concept was inspired greatly by a talk by Erika Larsen I heard last year. I want to focus on how people shapeshift to make sense of our world. I’m interested in the ways we use our physical evolutions to express our emotional growth. I think these threads of growth, change, fear, identity, and life cycles have been consistently present in my work, but now I’m coming face to face with them.