Interview: Shae McCoy
By Lia J. Latty
Published July 23rd, 2021
Did you always know you wanted to be a creative and a photographer?
SHAE: Photographer? No. A creative? Yes. I always knew I was going to do something creative, I just didn’t know what. When I was younger I wanted to be a writer, but more like a creative writer. As I got older, my passion for writing was still there, but it shifted once I went to college. I learned about journalism and I started writing for my blog and all of that. My writing turned into more of a journalistic thing. In the midst of that, I needed a camera actually, because I needed to take pictures for my articles and stuff. And I just started taking my camera out every day and practicing. I just started shooting different things. At first I was just shooting, like going to different events and shooting stuff. I’ll put the photos on Instagram and tag whatever event it was. And then people started to hire me from doing that. So I just kept going and practicing. I always knew I had a very creative background and mind, but I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do.
What inspirations influence your work?
SHAE: I’m inspired mostly by my surroundings, so it’s wherever I am at the moment that inspires me to do something. People inspire me, but not as much as what I’m surrounded by. If I’m in nature, I might want to take some portraits of someone in the woods or somewhere like that. If I’m in the city, I’m taking pictures of whatever is surrounding me, whether it’s people, houses, whatever. So yeah, I would say my surroundings are the most influential to me.
How do you define your relationship with photography?
SHAE: I think it’s very personal. Anything that I’ve shot other than my commissioned or contracted work, I always have some type of connection to it; whether it’s a very deep connection, or whether it’s very surface level I always have a connection to it. It’s more inward and outward. I can take photos for the rest of my life and not be acknowledged for it and be okay, ‘cause I just love taking pictures.
What is your process like when you’re working with the people you photograph?
SHAE: My process isn’t really that complex. When I’m doing work that people commission it’s usually they usually have an idea of what they want to do already. When it comes to my own conceptual work, stuff just comes to my head, like okay, boom. There’s an idea. Then I look for references to surround the idea. and then I go from there. As far as connecting with the actual model or muse, I usually try to work with people that I know. Even when I work with people that I don’t know that well, I’m always able to connect with them just through talking to them. I learned that when you are photographing people, especially in an intimate portrait session, you should kind of act like you’re conducting an interview with them. It kind of loosens that person up so that they’re more comfortable with you. In the photos, they come out as if they are comfortable with you.
As a Black creative, how have you navigated the photo world/industry?
SHAE: Mostly networking. Networking has gotten me to where I am today. However, it took me just starting, practicing, and building my skill set to be able to get to those places where I can network and meet people.
“I can take photos for the rest of my life and not be acknowledged for it and be okay, ‘cause I just love taking pictures.“
What was the public’s response like when you released your book West Baltimore Ruins? Did that body of work further inform your art practice?
SHAE: A lot of people anticipated the book coming out. I remember when I first started the project and everybody was like, this is good, this is something that is very important. That response made me realize I have to do something more with this instead of just posting pictures to Instagram. So I thought, what can I do for people to remember this project and have it in their homes? And I thought okay, let’s make a book. The process of making the book was okay for my first book. Even though it got very stressful towards the end. The response I got from when it was released was worth every piece of stress that I went through. I have not heard anything negative. A lot of people definitely said they liked the book, and they were definitely interested in buying it. A few politicians that started following me on Instagram said that they were interested in the book as well and told me how important it was. I want to be known for that project, definitely, but I don’t want that to be my sole purpose as an artist. You know what I’m saying? I want to be known for multiple things and my next project actually won’t have anything to do with the content in that book. I’m just the type of person where I don’t like to stay stuck on things for a long time. People keep saying that I need to do a spin off of that book and do different things. I’ve considered it, but I’m not really pressed to, but I know there’s a lot more work to be done. Regarding that book, as far as in the community, I want longevity with that book, but I don’t want it to be just another project on top of project on top of project. I want to know how I can put this book in schools and classrooms and make it part of the general curriculum for kids so that they can know what’s going on.
How do you see your work evolving?
SHAE: I think I’m doing a good job of progressing forward. I think as far as right now, I’ve made the impact that I wanted to make earlier in my career than I expected, but I do want to do more. I want to do more studio work. I want to do more editorial work, all of that. So I feel like my work has evolved greatly, but there’s definitely room to grow.
What do you hope people take away from your imagery?
SHAE: The stories. I feel like a lot of my images tell stories, even if it’s just portraits. A lot of the time I try to create concepts where you either can make up your own story or there’s already a story. I want the authenticity to be received as well.