We recently connected with Erin McGinn and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Erin , thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
I’ve developed a series I call “Maker’s Shoots”. We, artists and artisans, spend so much time documenting our final products that we fail to share the intricate, imperfect, messy process of creation that our clients and customers love to see. I love seeing artists create, as well as their spaces and studios. I photograph the entire shoot on analog film (Yes, film! Negatives, tangible, darkroom film!) because it is a mindful medium where I get to slow down and think through the creative process right alongside my makers. This is a joint collaborative journey. I create without being able to rely on digital crutches, only my intuition and watching the light. Being present with an artist during the execution of your craft lets the ideas flow. Film is also an imperfect medium. With grain, blur, and light leaks, it’s impossible to know before developing and scanning what little bits of imperfection will be included, and it’s the perfect match for the imperfection of creation. I’ve gotten to know some fantastic artists and craftspeople through this series, and it truly fills my cup up creatively and provides the inspiration I need to push forward in other, less inspirational, parts of small business ownership.
Erin , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I had always been interested in photography, but never thought of it as a career path until after graduating college with a degree in Marine Biology, I found myself torn between pursuing graduate school and a career of science and doing something totally different. I found myself working for an event venue and planning 40 weddings and my own wedding in 2008-2009. I loved the creative side of event planning and was always inspired when seeing my couple’s photos come back from the photographers – a happy, emotional, well-designed day, rather than the chaos and numbers and staff management I was dealing with as a planner.
I decided to pursue wedding photography in 2009 and began assisting others in the field, as well as enrolling in the RISD’s CE digital photography program. In order to fund my classes I took a position as a blogger, editor, and stylist for a regional wedding publication and became totally immersed in wedding photos. From blogging about them, writing about them, shooting them, and editing them, I developed an editorial edge and storytelling aspect to my work. I also photographed for local businesses during my time at the magazine, and got to know a lot of contacts who hired me freelance to capture their work, their restaurants, their families, outside of the publication.
After going full-time with wedding photography, I always kept slots open for my freelance clients. When I started to infuse analog film in with my digital skillset for fun, I realized how great it would be to capture some of the artists I worked with on film, too, to mirror the imperfect art of creation. My Maker’s Shoot series was born and to date they are some of my most loyal clients and my favorite shoots.
My constant inspiration is travel, and while I’ve always documented landscape, local surroundings, and things to do for local businesses, I’ve recently taken a 4 month sabbatical traveling around Asia and Oceania. I’m excited to push travel photography and travel writing into a big part of my business in the future.
From working in the hospitality industry, to travel, to photographing food,artists and interiors, all of those aspects of my background come into play every time I photograph a wedding. It’s not just a collection of portraits I deliver, but a full story that shows experiential moments and snippets of the day from an editorial perspective and that’s what really sets me apart. I hope that my clients feel connected to the day through all their senses when they view their photographs.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Stop viewing photographs/art as free content. I think when the world moved from film to digital, we instantly lost the value of a photograph. Since everyone has an iPhone and many people have digital cameras, they don’t think about all that goes into that creation anymore. In the past it was understood that there was film to buy and a darkroom necessary and developers and enlargers, and paper and scanners models hired, producers involved. Now, it’s quite hard to get anyone outside of the industry to understand we aren’t just button pushers, or content creators, or influencers. That the digital images are worth something (and in many cases, a lot). That you need to pay for usage licenses, yes even to share that photo on Instagram- you can’t just pull something off the internet and share it on your social media, you need to purchase those rights. We need a way to make society understand the value of art, rights, and content again. We as artists try to educate, but society, and our platforms, need to change in order to make that understood globally.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Overall, I’d have to say storytelling. Whether that’s as for a wedding couple, to tell the story of their wedding for their future selves or future family to treasure. Whether that’s for a brand to share with their clientele and be able to help them jumpstart their business. Or for an artist, to be able to share their process and creations with the world- to show how they do what they do and bring new interest to their work. Learning all these stories throughout my career has brought me friendships, has brought me connections, and has given me purpose in my career. It’s so rewarding to watch small businesses become established because they share my photographs. To have a couple return to me after their wedding to capture their families as they grow. To see the accolades some artists receive because their social media game is strong and drew in press from all over. Those stories shape lives and careers and to be able to document them is monumental.
Contact Info:
- Website: erinmcginnphotography.com (and erinmcginn.com for weddings)
- Instagram: @erinmcginn
- Facebook: @erinmcginnphotography
Image Credits
Headshot Credit: MollySlater.Co All other Photos: Erin McGinn