Daily Inspiration: Meet Meril Shane

Today we’d like to introduce you to Meril Shane.

Hi Meril, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Like many photographers, I was always interested in the past and how we relate to it. The object permanence that photography can bring to a person’s memories was something that I related to in a very personal way.

In my case, the need for photography to be a part of my life stemmed from an injury that resulted in a large portion of my memory being lost. Looking at photographs was a way for me to relate to my own past even when I wasn’t able to remember being present in that moment.

This began when I was about 9 years old. The fascination with photography then spiraled through adolescence and adulthood, as a way for me to relate to my own past without relying on my memory alone. Pictures became my way of creating permanence in my own memory. Which was something that I explored in my work throughout my Masters of Fine Art program.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think my fascination with photography began in an easy way, but as I have gotten older I have begun able to relate to photography in a different way. This has created some tension in my own work, this emotional relationship can be really hard to work with at times.

The most recent and obvious struggle along the way has been dealing with Covid-19 directly after graduation from my MFA program. I graduated in May 2020, which really put a damper on the ideas that I and many other creatives had for the year. However, I feel like that abrupt lockdown helped us to reach inward and within our own circles to become more resourceful.

My business partner Dani Williams who owns Graze & Provisions, a charcuterie company in Tucson Arizona, and I joined forces throughout the pandemic. We made it a point to have creative Sundays where we would get together to create food scenes, experiment with new cocktail recipes, and take pictures of the whatever we came up with. This led us to begin working on a book that focuses on the relationship between food and art and how we have used them together. We love to focus on using local products, and in particular products created by women.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am most known for my work in portrait photography and well as commercial and food photography. I think something that sets my work apart is my fascination with the use of natural light. I love to relate the work I do to the environment and how light can change to create a scene all its own, almost becoming its own subject matter.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk-taking?
I love taking risks, I think taking those leaps throughout life is what makes us grow. Especially in the creative field, if you’re not taking risks, you’re not pushing yourself to your full potential. I think the most amazing work can come from failures, where we take big risks and fail, but then find our way through.

Contact Info:

• Email: mm@madmerilphotography.com
• Website: madmerilphotography.com
• Instagram: madmerilphotography