AWAY FROM THE NOISE
TRYING NEW THINGS...
HONEY JOY
My name's Megan. I'm from Honey Joy. I picked up my camera again after 10 years of not using it. Prior to that I'd used it for about 8 weeks in college before dropping out the class, I think it's because I was rubbish at it? My dad had given me his canon AE1 35mm Analog camera. He never used it and I think he gave it to me in the hope it would keep me out of trouble? It didn't work. It just meant I was a little shit who liked taking photos. As a teen navigating the ongoing diagnosis of depression with no idea how to express things I was really drawn to portraits. Particularly photojournalism and street photography because they have this ability to powerfully capture human emotion and circumstance. It's people in their truest or most vulnerable forms. I was drawn to people
like Donna Ferrato: she spent her life as an activist exposing domestic violence In the US through photography and then there's Martin Parr who's ability to capture the quirks of ordinary life so well you're left with a reassurance that we're all weirdos trying to make it through. So 16 yr old Meg may have sacked off photography in 8 weeks but I carried the love through to my late 20s which is where I found myself signed off from work having a depressive episode that was as bad as when I was first diagnosed. Being an adult with responsibilities and feeling the super bad feels was a totally new thing to Navigate. I wasn't leaving the house or bothering to shower. During this time by beautiful coincidence I found my dusty old canon and it sparked this little nugget of intrigue. Anyway,long story short, it got me out the house and it started the ball rolling for recovery. Since then my 35
camera is always round my neck. In a poetic world I would have nailed my skills and used it for some sort of good. Instead I spend too much time trying to find discontinued, expire film to shoot that gives poor (read: discoloured, light leaked and great) results. I also can't shoot a good portrait but I just love it. Since then I've dived into other things I've loved but too scared to do-through fear of doing badlylike roller skating and climbing. I do both badly but taking on something that makes you feel stupid and that there’s so much to learn is actually the best feeling. The band are super supportive and we've used a photo of mine for the cover of our next album which is being released 4th September on Everything Sucks Records.
