I met Maggie about a year ago. She
has the thickest and sweetest Kentuckian accent. A statuesque figure that
exuberates innocence and a sense of casualness about her that makes you
open up to her in such a way. I look forward to seeing what she will accomplish
in the very near future of her career. 
Maggie
is currently attending Western Kentucky University and is about to receive
a degree in Photo Journalism. I was intrigued by Maggie's photos because
of her uncanny ability to capture candidness so well. She sort of fell
into taking band photos and personally is quite good at it. I asked her
if she would go this route in the future and she stated that she always
tries to incorporate what she's learned in school with photojournalism
into what she really enjoys, as long as it's her love of the ideal of
keeping things untouched and a sense of realness to her images. She said
she wouldn't mind it in the least. I decided to probe further into her
interests and future endeavors.
When was the first moment you decided that you wanted to be a photographer?
When I was in high school, one of my best friends had just gotten a new
camera. It was a fully manual (Nikon FM-10). I had a b oyfriend
at the time that was in a band and she brought the camera to one of his
shows. She taught me a couple of basic things about how to use it and
then she let me take pictures during the show. That was what initially
sparked my interest, but it wasn't until later that I really decided that
photography was what I wanted to do. I think the story goes something
like this....It was a year after my friend had taught me about her camera
and a button or something fell off of one of my clothes, so I went into
my mom's closet to find her sewing kit. At the top of her closet I found
a camera bag. It had a really neat old camera in it and I started messing
around with it, taking pictures of everything. I would take it to my high
school soccer games and practices and anything where I could practice
using it. I later found out it belonged to my grandfather (who died when
I was two)...so I guess photography runs in my blood... or something like
that. I'm just a very curious person and photography gave me a reason
to explore that.
What subject do you most like to
photograph and why?
Well for the last four years I have been mostly shooting assignments for
school, journalism stuff, but my favorite things to shoot are things that
I am interested in, which sounds obvious, but a lot of times in schol
I had assignments that I didn't really care about or that I wasn't at
all interested in. I think my photos turn out better when I am shooting
something I am really passionate about, and at this point in my life it
is music and culture. I really like shooting pictures of bands
and shows.
What is something you aim for in
your photography that will put you on the map?
 I've
always said that my dream job is to work at Rolling Stone or something
like that,...my all time favorite photographers are David LaChapelle and
Dorothea Lange ( a photographer during the Depression), and if I could
become even a tenth as talented as they are then I think will be ok. I
want to be able to show people things and issues in an interesting way
that maybe will open their eyes to a different view point, or make them
think about something twice.
Do you feel getting formally educated
will help your talent or do you feel you are naturally talented?
I think talent comes with practice, I went to the best photojournalism
school in the nation (Western Kentucky University) to learn photography.
One of the main things they have drilled into me is that things can always
be improved. There are very few cocky photographers that have come out
of there, because we all have been taught to keep pushing ourselves and
keep thinking. So to answer the question, I think that being educated
helps with the technical aspects of picture taking, but "having an
eye" and being about to be creative helps tremendously.
 Do
you photograph yourself a lot?
I only photograph myself if I get a new lens for my camera or something
like that. Most of the time I erase them before anyone else gets to see
them. I prefer to be on the other side of the camera.
Have you been published? if so where
and if not why?
I have been published a couple of times, nothing big though...I did some
freelance work a while back for this tiny paper in Louisville and for
some other companies ( the Core Modern Training Center, St. Joseph's Children's
Home) and artists (Dan Rhema) and miscellaneous things (Mountain Workshops,
Parkside View, XO).
Who influences your work?
Other photographers (My favorite photographers are David LaChapelle, I
love his use of color and his creative perspectives and Dorothea Lange,
she was really able to connect with her subjects without being noticed,
she made herself invisible and just random things that I see every day...right
now I am really into fire escapes and just random architecture. I'll be
driving down the road and I'll think to myself, "That woul d make
a good place for band photos," or "Maybe I should come back
here and hang out for a while, because I might be able to make a cool
picture here."
What's the most interesting thing
you've photographed and why?
If we are talking interesting as in weird, we do this thing at school
called the Mountain Workshop where we go to a small town in Kentucky or
Tennessee, some one goes to the town early and scouts out stories and
interesting people in the town and then we draw stories out of a hat and
document the town for a week. Last year we went to this town called Bardstown
in Kentucky, and I drew this story on a Rabbit Ranch, where they raised
rabbits for meat. The first day I was there the owner was showing me baby
bunnies and then two days later I had to photog aph her husband killing
them. It was hard and it sucked. (That would suck my friend)
What do you feel would be your hardest
challenge?
I get soooo nervous around people I don't know and that has been one of
my biggest challenges so far. Sometimes I have the hardest time getting
out of the car because I get so anxious, but once I meet someone and I
start to get comfortable I can't quit talking!
What's your favorite cuss word?
Hmmmm,...my favorite cuss word? What if my mom reads this? I guess my
favorite one this week is probably "fucking shit"...it's the
one that comes to me when random things happen. Ffor example, if I was
at the store and I looked in my wallet and I thought I had five dollars,
but I really had none and I was standing at the checkout line, that is
probably the first thing that would come out of my mouth.
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