Los Angeles Photographer
Portrait | Documentary | Sill Life | Urban Lifestyle
Megan Pennings (she/her) is an Xicana artist from the San
Gabriel Valley city of Baldwin Park, California. Megan’s photography is focused
on storytelling within portraiture, documentary, still life, and urban
lifestyle, centering around my interest in social media, culture, and community
and how identity and social expression are formed within photography. Megan is
also an adjunct faculty member in the Ethnic Studies programs at various
California Community Colleges. Megan received her MFA in Photography at the
Academy of Art San Francisco, an MA in Mexican-American Studies and a graduate
certificate in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from California State
University, Los Angeles, a dual BA in Sociology with an Emphasis on
Inequalities and Diversity, a BA in Mexican-American Studies, and a minor in
Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from California State University, Los
Angeles, as well as an AA in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Mt. San Antonio
College. Megan’s work is based on her interest in social media, culture, and
community and how identity and social expression are formed within photography.
Megan has been a mentor with Las Fotos Project, an LA-based nonprofit
photography mentoring program for teenage girls & gender-expansive youth.
Megan has been a member of Mujeres de Maíz, an LA-based womxn of color artivist
collective, and has co-curated our annual live art show and exhibition.
PHOTO BY: Anthony Hjaltalin (Hjaltalin Imgery)
The camera is more than just a device that captures moments. It is also a way to preserve and document moments within communities. Using a form of storytelling within photography provides a view that allows others to understand how cultures and communities are connected within our society. I became interested in photography to capture candid moments of people within their natural environment. My choice of subjects comes from my interest in social media, culture, and community and how these aspects have become a form of expression within photography, which is the subject matter for my ongoing projects that focus on identity and social expression. Recently, I have focused on documentary portraits that capture communities based around the American subculture of bearded social clubs, which used social media platforms as a form of expression and to document and digitally archive the clubs' culture and community.