BLACKRAPID Guest Post by Meggan Joy | A Modest Kit to Make Complex Art

IT NEVER FAILS,

I’ll be at a show opening, and someone will come up to my work for the first time, and then promptly ask, “How long did this take?” The answer is always the same, “A while longer than I planned.”

I MAKE INTRICATE DIGITAL COLLAGES,

combining hundreds if not thousands of my own images of flora and fauna together to form a new shape. It’s a simple if not repetitive process; photograph and catalog my images in LR, then shop from that catalog while collaging to build up the shape. Repeat until done. (On average each piece is 30-40hrs in Photoshop alone.)

WHILE SIMPLE, IT IS TIME INTENSIVE.

So, I decided pretty early on that I needed to make sure my work didn’t overtake my entire life and would need to find a way to streamline the whole process.

THE EASIEST WAY TO DO THAT WAS TO SHAVE DOWN MY KIT AND KEEP IT SIMPLE AND COMFORTABLE TO CARRY.

I now keep one camera, one lens, my Nicole Elliott by BLACKRAPID strap, a travel light, a backpack, a studio light (it’s a desk lamp) some black cards and a water spritzer. That is it.

I MOSTLY SHOOT MY SUBJECTS IN THE STUDIO, BUT I ALWAYS TAKE MY GEAR WITH ME WHILE WALKING THE DOG OR WHILE HIKING.

Because you never know when the perfect inky cap mushroom will be there just waiting to be photographed and added to the arsenal of “things to be collaged with” – and I also love making the strangers around me assume (correctly) that I’m a bit odd. So, it’s a win-win.

THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER I TAKE UPWARDS OF 500+ IMAGES EVERY DAY

of everything I can find, often growing many of my subjects in my garden.

DURING THE WINTER,

I habitually stay in my tiny studio (which may or may not be a converted walk-in closet) and collage my visions together.

IT’S NOT A CONVENTIONAL LIFE, BUT I LOVE IT.

I built myself the perfect job that mixes my love of bugs, plants, and art.

Meggan Joy is a photographic artist in Seattle, Washington. Her work focuses on personifying nature in a surreal way. This digitally staged imagery is created by breaking down the documentary medium of traditional photography and forcing it instead, to depict an ethereal subject made from scratch; which combines the natural sciences with recognizable human forms and references of classic iconography. She is represented by Core Gallery www.coregallery.org and will have a solo show in May of 2019. You can follow Meggan on Instagram @meggan.joy and find out more about her on her website www.MegganJoy.com.

Get your own Nicole Elliott by BLACKRAPID camera strap at www.blackrapid.com/Nicole-Elliott-Strap-by-BLACKRAPID.