Art series by Meg Clark // I wasn’t really aware my photography had subtle feminist messages, and if I became aware, I would dismiss them myself. I think I was afraid of becoming too political with my work. This project is about becoming conscious of my choices and simultaneously detached from what others may think.
Art Series by Meg Clark
I’m Meg, a 19-year-old student currently studying and living in Leeds.
My grandfather was an amazingly modest painter who used to sit for hours hidden away painting landscapes. It always fascinated me from a young age. He would sit with me at the dining room table showing me techniques for drawing and painting. This then led me to study Fine Art for two years at college. I found myself becoming interested and aware of colour, textures and staging objects. developed this further by applying these techniques in photography. I found freedom in photography, a freedom I hadn’t felt when studying Fine Art. I used to laboriously copy things. Now I can spend a lot more time on preparing what I want the outcome to be and then just use the camera as a tool to capture it. Through photographing, you can make people believe almost anything. Some people use a camera to document the everyday; I like to use the camera to show things people might not have seen and allowing people access to my imagination, subconscious and conscious mind.
Sometimes I go into the studio with no real concrete idea of what I want to produce. I just go with my bag of notorious props and hope for the best.
This project, The Three F’s (which are food, fashion, and feminism), has been developing for around two years. I wasn’t really aware my photography had subtle feminist messages, and if I became aware, I would dismiss them myself. I think I was afraid of becoming too political with my work, as I saw it as a fun outlet and I was fearful it would lose that, not just for myself but for my audience. This project is about becoming conscious of my choices and simultaneously detached from what others may think. I allowed those subtle messages to become a little less subtle, and allowed my work to blossom (as well as myself!) on this journey. Jelly, hot dogs, and spaghetti have also become a tradition, or some might say an obsession. I find it an exciting challenge to merge numerous objects and textures together creating new perspectives and relationships. However I also like to leave it up to my audience to create their own relationship with my photographs, letting their own beautiful imagination interpret them how they wish.
