I am Shoog McDaniel, a southern, queer, non-binary, fat photographer and artist living in Tallahassee, Florida. I have been taking photos since high school, when a friend of mine dumpster dove 200 disposable cameras from behind a Walgreens. I became obsessed, and began documenting everything. I now shoot with a canon rebel t3i, and have yet to take a break from capturing intimate moments and beautiful people in my everyday life. My work is about highlighting bodies and lives that are often overlooked by popular society. I enjoy photographing fat bodies, trans bodies, and queer bodies. People`with gap-toothed smiles and missing buttons. I capture images of my friends. With little exceptions, I have a connection with the humans in my photos and I intend to show that through the intimacy of my portraits. I strive to connect the viewer of each photo to beauty within themselves, through understanding the brilliancy of diversity, by showing them that there are many ways to be beautiful.
Hey y'all! I wanted to write this post to clear up questions that I have heard are being asked, and because I have been having these conversations with folks for a while and I feel its important to share the info. As most of y'all know, I have been making my income off of photography gigs and selling art I make and sometimes photos. As a photographer, I have a responsibility to my models. I enjoy taking photos of other artists, creatives, POC, trans folks, fat ppl, and generally people who do not usually have much more access to financial stability than I do. Because of this, I have found a way that I feel good about to be paid for my work but also leverage my privilege.
Some things to know abt my personal policy:
- Unless I know you SUPER well and know you are fine with it, I will not take a photo of you without permission. I will have folks fill out release forms during free group shoots to give me permission to use their photos.
-I always ask permission before putting an image of anyone online, in a show, magazine, repost or write-up, unless you have filled out the release.
-I offer sliding scale photoshoots. My prices are currently $200-350 sliding scale based on what you can pay, BUT:::for trans-women, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous People of Color) , sliding scale starts at 0.
-I made a book 1 year ago. I put a lot of energy and time into laying it out, learning a new computer program and gathering images. I did a gofundme so that folks could pay up front essentially, and then I ordered the books with that money. I had about 50 books extra that were not accounted for that I have been slowly selling at shows and through instagram or wherever. I sell the books at just 15 bucks over cost of production, So after shipping costs I make about ten bucks a book.
This post is about accountability as a white photographer and because I have been getting questions lately about profiting off of the images of poor folks, POC, and other folks who are more economically disadvantaged than I am. I welcome any feedback and I encourage folks who might know people who have asked about my practices to share this information with them. I don't want to be an artist if it means exploiting people, the goal of my art and photography is the direct opposite. I want to uplift, celebrate and create opportunities for folks. Thanks for reading.
-Shoog