WAIM #057 - Photographer Jena McShane

Jena McShane spent three years getting her website together. As a photographer of more than two decades, she sought to catalog her very best images for an online portfolio. Scrolling through her vast archives often brought her anxiety as she wondered how to best present her extensive body of work.Going back to her days at Lansing Community College, Jena has eschewed the photographer’s maxim of picking a lane. Instead of opting to focus an entire career in portraiture or storm chasing or landscape photography or shooting live music, McShane shot all of it and more. Now with a vast and varied archive, Jena was an artist struggling to find a way to encapsulate her past and future artistic identities. Jena and I chatted at length about how she found the clarity to put her site together and what that did for the confidence she had in her own work. We cover Jena’s early love of disposable cameras, her first mentors, and a journey she describes as “all over the place”. We dive deep on Jena’s experiences photographing a summer camp for disabled youth that uses music therapy to enrich the lives of these young people and their families. Recently, Jena was the official photographer for a feature length documentary about the camp. She shares her time on the ground at the camp and what it’s been like to watch it grow.There’s talk of storm chasing, twisters, and the glory of old black and white. Jena also talks about her recent work shooting live music for the online rock and roll mag Loud Hailer. She also shares her long and deep love for Canadian rock heroes, Rush. This is a really fun chat with a woman who is an engaging and diverse artist. Enjoy.Cheers,Matty C Get full access to What Am I Making at whatamimaking.substack.com/subscribe