Join us here on ALC for Women With Cameras on Wednesdays, where Dorie Hagler will be highlighting the thoughts and experiences of a professional female photographer or filmmaker. Her goal is to share great work by great professionals who are not yet in the limelight. This week, she spoke with street photographer Jennifer McClure, on her recent work.
Jennifer McClure is a fine art and documentary photographer based in New York City. She uses the camera to ask and answer questions.
Recently, Jennifer turned the camera on herself after a long illness limited her access to other people.
As a photographer, she is interested in appearances and absences, short stories, poetry, and movies without happy endings. Her work explores how we come to be the people who we are.
Q: If you could only bring three pieces of equipment with you on a photo shoot, what would you bring?
A: Canon 5D Mark III with 24-70 L series lens, Canon Speedlight 580ex with LumiQuest Softbox, medium size reflector.
Q: As photographers, we all get that “got it” feeling when we get the shot we are after. What needs to be present in an image for you to get that feeling or know you nailed it?
A: The light has to be just right. Either the sunlight moves an inch in the right direction, or the flash frames someone’s face at the perfect angle. And I like for my subjects to get lost in themselves while we shoot. I wait for them to forget that they are being photographed, to make a move that tells me they’ve stopped looking at themselves. This has to happen whether I’m photographing myself or other people.
Q: How do you balance your personal work with your client work? What percentage of your work is what you are passionate about and what percentage is produced to pay your bills?
A: As a fine art photographer, the majority of work I produce is personal work. I make money when I sell prints or teach workshops. I have done commissions for people, but these take up 10-15% of my time. I would like to have more client work, and I’ve recently finished a body of work that I hope will help me get a foot in the editorial door. I pay my bills with my night job.
Q: If you didn’t have to worry about earning a living, what type of work would you do?
A: I would keep doing this! Making and telling stories. There isn’t time enough to tell all the stories that are out there. And I would love to teach those with limited means and nothing but a cell phone how to make art and tell their own stories.
Q: I often feel that I keep making photographs because I don’t know how not to. Why do you keep making photographs?
A: I also don’t know how not to. Making pictures is the only way I know how to process these big questions that I have about life. I have a brain that wanders and chatters. The only way I can get it to shut up is to focus on a project or wander and shoot.
Q: There are many obstacles and gatekeepers that present challenges to getting my work seen. But I know my worst gatekeeper has been me – I had to learn how to get out of my own way. What has been your greatest obstacle and how did you overcome it?
A: My greatest obstacle has been my health. I have some things going on that make me very tired, and I find it hard to balance photography and work and my personal life and resting. This photo life demands a lot of your time, and I feel incredibly lazy whenever I choose to focus on my health rather than the hustle.
Q: What is your dream assignment/project?
A: I want to do a road trip through Florida. My family has lived there for generations. My dad was in the military, so I never lived there consistently, but it’s the closest thing I have to a childhood home. It’s such an interesting and diverse and crazy place. I’d love to get in and out of all the different parts.
To see more of Jennifer’s work, check out her website, and follow her on Instagram @jmcclurephoto.
