Goodbye 2015: A Year in Review

 I wanted to take a pause this New Year to think about 2015. It’s easy to let a year go by and not want to reflect on the goings on of that year—immediately putting resolutions on the wall and wishing for the next year to constantly be better that the previous. 

Aline Smithson made a post on Lenscratch of her and her team’s Favorite Things of 2015. So, I wanted to make a contribution to this by making my own list! See blow.

Favorite Light Leaked Post of 2015

Tall Tales: aninvestigative look into the surreal

Tall Tales was an online and physical exhibition on Light Leaked and at Canopy Collective in Cleveland, OH. It was an amazing experience to put together with Caitie Moore and Erika Dee. All the work! All the conversations over Skype! I loved that it involved creating a selection of images from the photography community and that it provided an opportunity to curate a focused selection of a lot of photographers at once. I was really proud of how the exhibition that came together.


Honorable Mention:

How to: Make a UV Exposure Unit for Alternative Process

This year Light Leaked started creating tutorial posts for processes that I felt this community would find valuable. For this post, the power couple, Ashley Whitt and Ross Faircloth, shared the process of how they created an inexpensive (and huge!) UV exposure unit for alternative processes in their at-home studio. And it was glorious.

Favorite Featured Light Leaked Artist of 2015

Abbey Hepner

I met Abbey earlier this year and I immediately connected with her and her work on nuclear energy. Rooted in science, research, and inquiry, Abbey’s work brings the viewer into a world in which we assume a lot, but actually know very little. And we’re all better for it. In November the curator and independent writer, Laura Addison, conducted an insightful interview with Abbey about her work. If you missed it, make sure to check it out!

Favorite Photography Book of 2015

Many amazing photography books were published this year. Here’s a few I LOVED:

Aline Smithson, Self & Others, Magenta Foundation

You guys. This book. What words can I even use to describe the genius of Aline and the Magenta Foundation? First, let’s talk design. I got the special edition of this book and I think it is the way to go if you haven’t bought your copy yet. The print and color choices are so, Aline: off-beat, seductive, smart, fun. Something about it feels like an f-you to the simple traditional style of monographs, and I love it. The layout of the images and pages are playful and experimental—very in line with Aline’s work. This also creates a rhythmic flow through the pages, and before you know it, you’re at the end and need to start again. It also really tells the story of Aline’s growth as an artist over the years: her movement from one idea to the next and really, the playful nature that entails. It’s the journey of a powerful and intimate artist telling stories, and we are all lucky enough to have a front row seat.

Honorable Mention:

Maude Schuyler Clay, Mississippi History, Steidl

Oh my goodness, Maude Schuyler Clay is a Southern goddess. Mississippi History is absolutely one of the most beautiful photography books I have seen in person. The printing is divine, the design, scale and sequencing is heaven. Every detail is so considered that it makes this lifetime of work sing out from the page, begging re-viewing. The content is expansive, spanning thirty years of color work that comes together to describe a personal, photographic, Mississippi history.

I can foresee Mississippi History being talked about with the likes of Stephen Shore and Robert Frank in the future. I am not even worrying about overselling it, because this is the truth.

Honorable Mention 2:

Lori Vrba, The Moth Wing Diaries, Daylight Books

To start, the cover is a smooth, velvety white hardcover with a tipped in photograph and letter pressed text. The images are expertly printed on thick weight paper and are amazing replications of the hand-toned photographs I’ve seen in person. Overall, the book is simple yet elegant. The work causes the viewer to reflect on family, love, relationships, memory, life… It’s a stunning visual poem.

Daylight published some beautiful books this year, and I am really looking forward to their future as a publishing house.

Favorite Non-Photographic Book of 2015

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

"You do not need anybody’s permission to live a creative life."

I know some people may be skeptical of a book written by Elizabeth Gilbert--if Eat, Pray, Love wasn't your thing. But any fan of Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland will love this book. It's a deep investigation into the mysteries of the creative process and living a creative life.

This book was like getting advice from a trusted friend, and caused me to reflect on my artist practice, expectations of myself, and how to manifest ideas into art. In short, it was the most inspirational book I read this year.

Honorable Mention:

Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by: Jon Krakauer

Note: there are graphic descriptions of rape in this book

Missoula chronicles the rape allegations from several college-aged women at the University of Missoula from 2008-2012, as well as the overall state of sexual assault in America. First, Krakauer is a nuanced nonfiction writer and investigative journalist. Second, this book raises powerful and essential questions surrounding how our society handles rape cases. I would describe this as the most insightful and heart-wrenching book I read this year.

Honorable Mention 2:

The Night Circus by: Erin Morgenstern

Okay. So this book came out in 2011. But I read it for the first time (and the 2nd time and the 3rd time) this year. The Night Circus is a finely drawn dark narrative that intertwines the lives of 3 protagonists as they navigate the creation and possible destruction of a traveling circus, Le Cirque des Rêves, that only opens at night. This was simply the most fun read/listen* of the year for me.


*A quick shout out to Audible (not sponsored), which I got this year, and was definitely the BEST money I spent. I work a lot, and used to only read books before I went to bed. Now, I can listen to amazing productions of books on my phone when I'm working, driving, cleaning, and yes, about to go to bed. Because of this, I have read (listened?) to more books this year than the last several years combined. Check it out, especially if you are an auditory learner, like me.

Inspirational Photographer of 2015

Micah Cash

A source of inspiration for me this year came from the magic that is Micah Cash. He is an articulate, smart, well-rounded artist that works in photography and painting. Not to mention a caring and inspiring friend. His work, Dangerous Waters, takes any viewers understanding of the TVA to new levels.

Here’s a couple things Mr. Cash taught me this year:

1. The power of the conceptual landscape 
2. The power of intricately researched work 
3. The power of confidence 
4. The power of public speaking 

Favorite Photography Event of 2015

Light Leaked Meet-up at SPE

This was definitely one of the most fun events of the year, for me. It was so great to see a lot of Light Leaked artists and readers come together in one place, interchange ideas, and meet one another. I wish we could have events like this more often because this was seriously inspiring. Look out for an invite to the next meet-up at SPE in Las Vegas!

Favorite Album of 2015

Blue Neighborhood by Troye Sivan

Blue Neighborhood is a pop/synth affair that is the first studio album by this Australian singer/songwriter. I describe him as a male Lorde to anyone who asks. Although this album is not perfect, it is beautifully emotional. It’s sexy! It’s fun! It’s been on repeat.

Note: amazing noodle dancing in above video

First listen to: Youth

Honorable Mention:

Cicada Rhythm by Cicada Rhythm 

Cicada Rhythm is an Athens, GA based folk duo that are as haunting as they are beautiful. The album is very Townes van Zandt meets Regina Spektor. Drive with the windows down to “Dirty Hound.”

First listen to: Do Not Destroy

Favorite Professional Moment of 2015

Photo by: Tamara Reynolds 

Questions of Origin Solo Exhibition and Panel at Slow Exposures

Slow Exposures is a rising star in the world of photography festivals. Based in rural Georgia, and organized by Chris Curry. These “Four Slow Days” are full of photography exhibitions, pop up shows, artist/juror talks, and drinking wine on porches. Last year also marked the beginning of an artist in residency program, which is currently open for submissions.


Questions of Origin was selected by Aline Smithson and Alexa Dilworth as the solo show award winning at the juried exhibition the previous year. It was a great solo exhibition and panel discussion with Karen Lacey and Celeste Headlee that was broadcast on GPB Radio at Slow Exposures.

Seeing the work together and talking about it detail with a panel and an audience, brought a sense of perspective and resolution to that work that I didn’t have before.

Favorite Personal Moment of 2015

This year I got engaged! My now fiancé, Ethan Fogus, brought me on a kayaking trip in the Tennessee mountains and proposed with his grandmother’s ring from the 1920s. It was beautiful, sweet, and fun. For those who don’t know Ethan, he is a Bruce-Springsteen-loving-hilarious-songwriter-musician-poet-educator-allaroundgreatperson. I’m really looking forward to our life together!

All that being said, here’s some resolutions I have for 2016:

1. Create more artist run contributions (articles, tutorials, exhibitions, interviews) on Light Leaked. Have one in mind? Email to: lightleaked@gmail.com
2. Have more conversations in person (I will accept Skype in this resolution) 
3. Take time to sit quietly 
4. Spend more time outside, away from my computer 
5. Don’t check my email first thing in the morning 
6. Always have a running 6 month plan
7. Make more work
8. Share my work with others 
9. Practice generosity, kindness, and empowerment with everyone 
10. Practice confidence and empowerment with myself 

Thank you to the community of Light Leaked and the photo community at large for making this a great 2015! Your passion, inspiration and encouragement are everything.

Meg Griffiths

Meg Griffiths was born in Bloomington, Indiana and raised in Houston, Texas. She received two B.A.’s at the University of Texas in Cultural Anthropology and English Literature and earned her Master of Fine Arts from Savannah College of Art and Design. She currently lives in Columbia, South Carolina where she is an adjunct professor of photography in the McMaster College of Art at the University of South Carolina. Her work has been shown in multiple venues around the United States including: Griffin Museum in Boston, 701 Center for Contemporary Art in Columbia, South Carolina, the Carte Blanche Gallery and the Rayko Gallery in San Francisco, and the Houston Center for Photography. She has also been published in Garden and Gun, South by Southeast Magazine, Southern Photography, PDN, Lenscratch, Le Journal de la Photographie, and Fraction Magazine. Her work has been added to several private collections and is part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She was recently named one of PDN 30’s 2013: New and Emerging Photographers to watch.

View more of Meg's work here 

Ashley Kauschinger: What inspired you to create your series, Casa Particular?

Meg Griffiths: A confluence of events led me to Cuba. Old photos and family stories of my grandparents’ time there just after marriage in 1946, the standard American preoccupation with a country that is off-limits, a very fortuitous decision in middle school to learn Spanish instead of French, and most importantly a drive to make connections through personal experience. My inspiration is driven by an amazing passage from an anthropologist and professor, Amelia Weinreb, where she describes, “that the real Cuba, Cubans tell you, happens behind closed doors, inside ordinary people’s homes, in their living rooms and kitchens. To gain any real sense of perspective of average citizens, one must go—as anywhere, but particularly in Cuba—into private space.” Having spent most of my photographic career up until that point making images of family and domestic spaces, the casa particular feels like a natural choice and part of my journey. I knew I wanted to make images that added something new to the ongoing conversation concerning Cuba. I recognized that other talented and well-established photographers had come before me and I wanted to make sure that I did not tread upon that visual ground. I did my research, read as much as I could in terms of history, poetry, biographies, memoirs, and ethnographic accounts before I left. I reached out and made contacts with anyone and everyone I could think of, in order to establish a network and gain insight as to what I might expect while being there. I really felt that I could not begin to try and photograph, if I did not have a more holistic sense of what this place was about.

AK: In your work, there is an interesting intersection of where private meets public. Do you feel like this connects to the act of photography? What are the subject's reactions to their public/private lives being shared publicly through your work?

MG: This gets to the very heart of my project, the images I have made, and the ones I will continue to make in collaboration with these families in Cuba. Their lives are on public display due to the fact they open their homes to tourists, which inevitably forces a sense of formality in how they keep their homes and how they comport themselves. These are also, however, functioning spaces where they live and go about their daily routines. Photography acts much in the same way. Being both private in the sense that it is a personal and subjective experience, the act of choosing to single out certain areas of a home, a meal or a person you are connected to, but simultaneously it forces a kind of formality and creates a platform for observation, study and conversation. The project has been received with affection and fascination. I make it a point to bring back exhibition quality prints to everyone I have been fortunate enough to meet and stay with. I think most are very proud of how their homes translate into a print, the way the photograph changes how they see things within their own spaces. I believe everyone is genuinely intrigued how the photograph can turn something mundane, like the remnants of a meal, into something beautiful. Many are touched by the portraits, which are hard to come by because there are not a lot of portrait studios or access to good quality printers, as well as interested in what the other casa owner’s look like and the way in which their counterparts homes are decorated. Many of the people I have lived with all know each other (there is a kind of casa network and they frequently recommend one another to their patrons), but few have actually met in person. It is exciting I think for these families to put faces to voices they have often spoke with over the phone, but never seen because travel is infrequent and expensive.

AK: These images have a familiar feeling of home and family. Titles such as "American Thanksgiving" and "After Nana's Breakfast" brings to mind a melding of cultures and families through the experience of these shared homes. What is your intention behind showing this?

MG: I am very family-oriented. I love food and bringing people together inside my home. I feel like it is such a private space and an expression of who I am, and my work has always focused on these kinds of topics. It seemed like a very fluid transition to move from projects that were about my own familial experience to one that focused, in the same reverent way, on other families inside their spaces. The titles and images reflect a sense of transition and transference from my family to those in Cuba. My own very personal feelings of family and traditions mingle with the ones that I experienced within these homes. An image like “American Thanksgiving,” a tradition obviously not celebrated in Cuba, was my way of sharing one of my favorite holidays. It was the first I’d missed with my own family. It is a means of showing gratitude and love for a family that I had become close to while staying in Havana and about a shared experience conveyed through the images.

AK: Do you think your education in Anthropology and English Literature influence how you approach photography?

MG: I’ve adopted this saying from my mother that “there is no wasted energy.” Everything I have done up until this point has really made me the person and photographer that I am today, which is reflected in my work. Although I had been making pictures since I was thirteen, I often flirted with the romantic notion of being a writer. But I could not make up my mind as to what and how I would go about writing, which could have been much of my problem right there. I also fell in the love with cultural anthropology. I was attracted to the way ethnographers immerse themselves in different subcultures and seek to make connections between people, by means of observing customs, rituals, history, politics, economics and other social phenomena. Sounds a little nerdy, but those were the books in college I would stay up all night reading. I was fascinated and completely transported. I think my work lies somewhere between the novel and science, only I use a film camera instead of a pen to share those stories and experiences.

AK: How do you go about balancing creating work, promoting it, teaching, and living life?

MG: It is an ever-elusive concept, balance. I will constantly strive for it, but in this period I am making it a practice to be a bit more compassionate with myself when I cannot do it all at once. I think it is important to accept as certain areas of my life flow, then my work ebbs and vice versa. I may hit times where everything seems to level out but those are gifts that happen so rarely. I am trying to just enjoy the moment -- in my life and my career. I feel lucky that my work is very much about having life experiences, being open with people, and continuing to have amazing conversations about photography. I really can’t imagine doing anything else.