Megan Baker: Interview

Please enjoy my interview with Megan Baker.

How did you first get into photography?

I first got into photography around age 3/4. I picked up the family polaroid and started taking pictures of my toys. I wasn’t actually serious about what I was doing until around 9. Eventually I started doing weddings and concerts at age 12, and I started the kind of art work I’m doing now at age 14.

How would you describe your style?

I think it’s a blend of a lot of things. I think when you first see it, you’d notice it’s very digital, and very edited, but it also has a classic feel, and a warmth. A lot of people will tell me they notice my photos are very dark, yet have a sense of hope to them. Like there is a storm in this photo now, but it’ll be sunny again, and maybe, just maybe, the people who lived there will come back.

What do you look for in a composition?

Very hard to describe. I know what it is, but can’t exactly put it into words. How the grass is... the Midwest, in the winter and spring, how some of the trees are, and the fields.. there’s something about them, magical in a way. If there’s just a house sitting some place with some other houses around it, right now, for me, it’s not going to do. I need to feel it. I want to see the dead grass blow in the breeze. I want to see vines ascending up buildings or trees... I think that a natural or organic aspect is very important in my photographs. I want to be able to think back on that moment and be able feel how I felt when I was taking it. I want other people to feel that.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Probably doing the same thing, just more successful (I hope.) I’m one of those people who has my life plotted out from right now until the day I die, complete with what kind of house I own and a matching dog. I never really think about what I’ll be doing career wise, because I really just want to keep doing what I’m doing now.