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.


“Photographs open doors into the past, but they also allow a look into the future.”