We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Peggy Mcbee. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Peggy below.
Alright, Peggy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
One of my first memories as a little girl was holding a clunky VHS camcorder in my living room as I watched myself come alive on the overtly small screen in front of me. From the second I saw the moving pictures through the slightly awkward viewfinder, something in my body chemistry changed; I was five years old. At age 7, my dad gifted me with my first Canon camera and the family dog was subject to non-stop photoshoots. My father, Randy McBee, had always had a talent for visual arts and loved (still does) taking photographs (if you ask my mom she would tell you he maybe loves it a little too much, showing every person he meets pictures of myself or Yosemite that he has taken). However, the amount of hours he spent taking photos and researching cameras only fueled my interest in pursuing the digital arts. By age 13, I was creating and editing music videos, documentaries, and of course MTV-style skate videos of all the cute boys I had crushes on. I spent hours simply filming anything I found interesting and putting those moving images to music. When I entered into high school, when I wasn’t studying, all I was doing was curating full photo shoots of models and stylized artists in the outskirts of town or even in my bathtub. I learned by doing, so what I did was live and breathe photography and film. I watched every movie I could get my hands on and studied the techniques of sound design and cuts. I researched any photographer who focused on portraiture and what cameras they used. By age 18, I had made my first income from senior portraits, family photos, and even photo shoots for bands. I secured my first job as a cinematographer for the local news station KOBI NBC 5. However, I soon found out that the repetition of bad news or really news of any kind was not for me. I new I still wanted to pursue photography and cinematography but I wasn’t sure how I could make living. Many of the artists I worked with in high school left for LA while I remained in Oregon. A few of them are still professional cinematographers, models, and musicians to this day down in California. I have no regrets, but one of my biggest obstacles has been finding creative work in a small town versus a big city, however; that has just made me more creative – forcing me to think outside the box, but we will get to that. After high school, I went to the University of Oregon and earned my degree in Cinema Studies and Art (of course, what else was I going to do, duh.) I was grateful my parents knew me well enough that they didn’t think I was throwing my life away studying the arts. I graduated with top honors and finished my first fifteen minute film in 2019. Along the way I worked on countless documentaries, student art films, and marketing for the university itself. In 2020, the world shut down and many of my friends who had dedicated their lives to Hollywood lost everything but I remained stable by balancing a visual merchandising job for Lululemon with reinventing my skill as a photographer through personal projects. I relied heavily on my eye of seeing visuals that others may not and designing photographs or videos that were based around shock factor. This proved to be my most essential asset as people were desperately looking for any distraction from the world during this time. I still believe my most essential skill is the art of tapping into peoples’ emotions visually, can that be a skill? I am going to go with yes? However, the obstacle in this and in being an artist is truly finding a financially viable way to create. Circling back to the fact that I live in Southern Oregon, where artistry is starting to blossom more but is still few and far between with the type of funky products I make, tapping into online audiences has been key. Yet time is money, and in order to support myself I have had to give up a lot of time learning new forms of digital arts (editing and camera techniques specifically) in order to go work many (many) jobs. Balance will always be the most important and the only way to speed up learning is to find a better work-life balance. As you can possibly see, I have put in years to honing the digital arts as a way of expression and I am just now starting to re-invent how I can use them in my life as a way of financial income. However, making money from my art has never been the goal and simply learning to enjoy the process of expression is the point I have come to right now at age 26. You simply cannot speed up learning what you love to do, that takes a lifetime no matter what because if you think you have mastered it, then you have more to learn.
Peggy, 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?
Raised in a home where photographs filled up all the empty crevices of wall space and by a dad with a third-eye as a camera lens, Peggy quickly caught the “artist bug.”
Based in the diverse mountainous landscape of Oregon, Peggy enjoys finding hidden and unique opportunities with all ranges of individuals.
With her sketchbook and camera, at twenty-six years of age Peggy is following her infatuation for capturing the artistic beauty of people with her Undergraduate degree in Cinema Studies and minor in Art from the University of Oregon.
From Peggy:
Since the age of 7, I found solace by looking through the lens of a camera. I have dedicated my life to pursuing the visual and digital arts and spent my elementary school years as a theater performer, middle school as a sculptural artist, high school I dove into digital arts, and in college I combined all three through the production of films.
My skills lie in showcasing the natural beauty of subjects through portraiture and story-telling. I am extremely detail-oriented and organized which allows my art to be the space of messes and creative exploits. I am not one who likes to take no for an answer, which has made me think outside of the box for almost every project I have taken on. My core-belief is that when a door shuts you simply just have to climb out of a window instead, which is more fun anyways.
Some of my past film work includes:
LOCATED IN OREGON (willing to travel)
CREDITS
Songs of The West SEP 2021. Directed by Kirby Clementine. Producer Peggy McBee. Shot on 85mm DLSR 5D Mark IV. Eugene, OR. DOP & Producer
Heaven’s to Murgatroyd! NOV 2020. Directed by Jacob Beeson. Producer Kaden Lipkin. Shot on 17-40mm DLSR 7D Canon. Eugene, OR. DOP
A SoHumane Story NOV 2019. Produced by Karen Evans. For Southern Oregon Humane Society. Shot on 24-105mm DLSR 7D Canon. Medford, OR. DOP
The Artist Story: Lauren Finnell OCT 2019. Produced by Ed Madison. Shot on Canon XA45. Eugene, OR. DOP
MLK March OCT 2018. Directed by Raven Fritz. Produced by UO School of Journalism and Communication. Shot on 24-105mm DLSR 7D Canon. Eugene, OR. DOP
KOBI NBC 5 JUNE—AUGUST 2017. Producer Scott Gee. Director of Photography Mike Porter. AC for local commercials, news briefs, and special reports. Put together Panasonic P2 HD MP Ultra HD Camcorder & Canon EOS 5D Mark III.
Education
BA Cinema Studies | minor Art – University of Oregon 2021
Directed and was the DP for Murder on 19th in 2019, which was chosen as one of the top 20 student films created by those in the School of Art and Design and was showcased for 300 students and faculty in the art department. Graduated in the top of the Cinema Studies Program with a 3.9 GPA.
RELATED EXPERIENCE
Social Media Curator – John L Scott Real Estate Agent Randy McBee, UO PE and Rec, Anchor Valley Wine and Jackass Freight Co., Digitally creating marketing campaigns for each business through Adobe Premier and Photoshop, Krita, and Canva.
*Owner of a Canon 5D Mark IV. Physically athletic and love to travel.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I strongly believe each artist has their own unique vision and drive but that we share one specific thing: interaction. This does not necessarily mean human interaction but simply the way that our artistic expression interacts with the world around us. I find the most rewarding thing for me is when people see my photographs and interact in literally any way. Many times I do pursue certain projects with a goal of creating a specific feeling or emotion inside a person when they see my pieces. However, I find immense joy when someone interacts with a piece in a way I could never have imagined. I am so rewarded when people view any of my photographs because A. I want people to see what I do and B. I learn from how people see my work. I would not become a better artist if people didn’t dislike some of the things I make, for personal or technical reasons. I am so rewarded by interaction between all people and art because it is the way that I am able to better understand human nature and emotion. Even further, the way I am able to interact with art is how I am able to figure out where I am in my life and how I am feeling. The further discovery of oneself and the growth within that through art is the most rewarding thing I can ever achieve by being creative.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My goal has always been to make people feel better. Although I love to target all the emotions burrowed deep inside people, my end goal is to make someone feel more understood or seen through my art. When I take pictures of people, I want those in the pictures to see the beauty I see. As someone who has struggled deeply with body image, I have made it my mission to make my subjects feel absolutely powerful in the images I take. Seeing yourself through someone else’s lens can be life changing, for better or for worse. Mass media has done a bang-up job putting a negative view on body-image through stereotypes and corporate campaigns. As much as companies try to promote an “all sizes” agenda, we still isolate so many body types and healthy life-styles. Brands put every inch of their marketing (using photography especially) to showcase what we should look like rather than embracing who we are and what we have that is already enough and also very special. I want to cut-off this form of marketing at the neck and replace it with the idea of showcasing and targeting what makes us unique rather than grouping us into what size, color, or aesthetic we are told we should be. My photography blends masculine and feminine forms into art pieces that are made specifically for each person within the images. I want my pictures to give the person in them confidence to see who they are without judgement and to embrace that every day.
Contact Info:
- Website: [email protected]
- Instagram: @peggymcbee @artbymcbee @thenostalgicfunk
- Facebook: Peggy McBee
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thegirlfilmmaker
Image Credits
Peggy McBee (photographer of all images)