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daSein Asks | Meghan Marin

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Meghan Marin

Born in 1997 in New York, USA, Meghan Marin is a NYC-based photographer whose work focuses on portraiture and narrative. She graduated in 2019 with a BFA in advertising photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology. She was raised in upstate New York and takes heavily from her upbringing in the quiet and solitude of the country. She approaches everything with curiosity and loves to learn about subcultures. Her work investigates queerness, her personal family dynamics, and the dualities within small town American life.

As a commercial photographer, Megan Marin has collaborated with renowned magazines such as "The New York Times", "T", "W", and "WWD".

"Spelling" installation view, Gallery daSein, 2024

Q - Gallery daSein

A - Meghan Marin

Q : What prompted you to start the "Red River" series?

A : I began working on Red River in March 2020. The work in this show spans the last years of my grandmother's life and of my time as a caregiver. I had just moved in with my grandparents to start helping take care of my grandmother after her cancer diagnosis and head surgery. I was making images documenting our lives.

The circumstances of where I was coinciding with the Covid-19 pandemic allowed me time. When I was not taking care of my grandmother, I couldn't work or see anyone else, so I spent my free time making images. I was also using image making to cope with the stress of caregiving.

Red River

Ultra Giclée, Hahnemühle photo rag, 81 x 61 cm, 3+2AP

2018-2022

Q : Has the environment and culture of New York influenced your style and choice of subject matter?

A : I think the artists around me in New York certainly influenced my work as a whole and my editing process, but "Red River" was made away from the city when I was very isolated. In this way, I think it was much more a product of Cape Cod and my time growing up there as a child.

Red River

Ultra Giclée, Hahnemühle photo rag, 14 x 19 cm, 5+2AP

2018-2022

Q : What is the biggest difference between commercial and personal (artistry) photography? How do you find a balance between the two?

A : When I'm not working on my commercial work, I'm working on various personal projects. It fills my time between jobs and fuels me creatively. The commercial work often feels like a means to an end. I still love it but it is less precious to me than work such as this.

Odessa Young for Wonderland, 2021

Child Free for The Guardian, 2020

Q : In what ways has your perspective and mental approach evolved during the four years of making the "Red River" series? What does this experience mean to you personally?

A : I have mostly used this work to process grief. Working on these images is difficult, so I often give myself time away from the project. I knew early on that I wanted to make a book from the work, and over time I have come to see it as an homage to our time together. I am intent on putting as much thought and love as I can into the design of the book to make a precious and ceremonious object that I can keep her memory in. I'm grateful the images exist so that I can remember the good and painful parts of that time.

Red River

Ultra Giclée, Hahnemühle photo rag, 81 x 61 cm, 3+2AP

2018-2022

Q : Is there an underlying relationship or special meaning linking the subtle interplays of landscapes, still life, water creatures, and characters in the "Red River" series?

A : The sea is an inherently mystical place. It speaks to me about life cycles and death. Tide reflects the passage of day, seasons reflect the passing of years. It gives and takes life and it continues on after we are gone. I think the sea and everything in it gave me a lot of peace during these years and served as a mirror to what was happening in our lives.

Red River

Ultra Giclée, Hahnemühle photo rag, 81 x 61 cm, 3+2AP

2018-2022

Red River

Ultra Giclée, Hahnemühle photo rag, 34 x 46 cm, 3+2AP

2018-2022

Red River

Ultra Giclée, Hahnemühle photo rag, 36 x 27 cm, 5+2AP

2018-2022

Q : Were the life scenes in "Red River" captured in the moment or intentionally arranged?

A : After living with my grandmother in 2020, I had many images to mull over for the next two years until moving back in with them in 2022. This first set of images was made frantically, with a desperation for escapism. Many were made on our walks together at the beach by her home.

By the time I moved back with them in February 2022, I had started to piece together the first set and process my feelings around them. I knew which gaps needed to be filled. This time of image making was much more intentional and conceptual– I was able to see what I wanted to make and execute it. I had visions of specific images that my grandmother helped me make, like the image of her Russian dolls.

Red River

Ultra Giclée, Hahnemühle photo rag, 14 x 19 cm, 5+2AP

2018-2022

Red River

Ultra Giclée, Hahnemühle photo rag, 34 x 46 cm, 3+2AP

2018-2022

Q : The figure in one of the works is clearly inspired by Wyeth's "Christina's World", has this painting influenced your work?

A : Making this image of my sister, Sophie, was very intentional. I didn't set out this day to make an image referencing the painting but as we were walking along the beach she reminded me of the scene and I asked her to sit. It wasn't until well after taking it that I realized they are wearing the same color. "Christina's World" is very interior, as is "Red River". In my image, she stands off with a bitterly gray sea. I feel in this work that she becomes a conduit for myself. Sophie has sat for me since I started photographing, she's one of my first subjects, and I love to work with her. We understand each other in a way that makes photographing her very special.

Andrew Wyeth

Christina's World

tempera on panel, 81.9 x 121.3 cm, 1948

? MoMA

Red River

Ultra Giclée, Hahnemühle photo rag, 34 x 46 cm, 3+2AP

2018-2022

Q : How do you understand portraiture?

Portraiture enables me to reveal small parts of a person, as much as they'll let me. I think it is a very unique vessel for intimacy with a subject. Being able to represent someone is a privilege. It also feels like I am sometimes taking something I cannot give back.

Red River

Ultra Giclée, Hahnemühle photo rag, 34 x 46 cm, 3+2AP

2018-2022

Homecoming, 2020

Q : Which artists do you admire? Are your works influenced by any artists?

A : I have many favorites, though I think this work was very influenced by Alec Soth and Ahndraya Parlato.

Alec Soth, I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating,

2017-2019

? Alec Soth

Ahndraya Parlato, A Spectacle and Nothing Strange, 2016

? Ahndraya Parlato

Q : What do you like to do other than making art?

A : I like to bake cakes and tinker with various crafts around my home.

Q : What are some of your favourite films and/or literature?

A : My favorite book is "The Tiger’s Wife", and my favorite films recently are "Foragers" by Jumana Manna and "Marie Antoinette" by Sofia Coppola.