Megan Baker

Megan Baker is now seventeen years old. She lives in a Bloomington, Ilinois, with her family.

' She wasn’t born into a family of artists, and her mother is incapable of figuring out how to turn on a camera. Where she got the knack for photography remains a mystery. The love of it started at the age of four, when Megan picked up the family Polaroid and began documenting the eventful lives of her toys. After that, she started taking pictures of nature and her pets, which were dressed in human clothing, against their will. Megan joined 4-H and used it as an outlet for her work. In the first year she won in both the county and state photography competitions, she was ten. That continued until Megan was 13, she lost for the first time. Being a sore loser, Megan ran around the backyard with a rubber mallet and hit things. Her parents did not sign her up for 4-H the following year. But by then she had already photographed two weddings (and got paid!) '.

DECAMPMENT:
' My series, Decampment, is heavily influenced by music. In 2006, when I was 14 and 15, my mom, my best friend, and I hit the road all across Illinois to find abandoned buildings. We had a lot of adventures, and even more awesome playlists. I had a collection of music I played any time I was editing, shooting, or driving, songs about abandonment.... songs about people being abandoned, relationships, these things all tied in with my series. The relationships between people (or lack there of) in my photos are just as strong as the relationships between the people and the houses...not there, empty, gone, abandoned. People can relate to this. Having an artist statement isn't a huge priority for me, I like the fact that my photos can speak for themselves. Whenever someone tells me what they feel or think when they see my photos, they are spot on. The feeling of being abandoned, rejected, empty, deserted, it's something people can relate to. It doesn't matter how happy you are, it's happened at least once in your life, no matter how small it seems... like the time when you were five, on the playground, and the other kids didn't like you. The time the girl/boy you liked, didn't like you back. The time someone you trusted let you down. You moved on and got new friends, you ended up liking someone else, you learned to stop trusting that person... you weren't stuck there by boards, nails, vines, and forgotten about though.'

Megan and ' Decampment ' were recently honoured when she was published in Eyemazing Magazine which led to two offers to exhibit this collection in Paris and in Dubai.

With a passion for music it was inevitable that her next assault would be stalking the music industry.

DECAMPMENT- EXTERIOR