WHO?
My name is Vee Morgana. I was born in Poland, escaped to Spain with mum at the age of ten, and after a couple of years emigrated to Sydney, where I’ve lived ever since. Whilst in Spain I was a week away from emigrating to the US, but Australia became an unexpected option, and the decision was made to go there instead. This alternate reality plays on my mind constantly.
I’ve always been a very independent person, preferring my own company to that of others. Acerbic, with a short-to-medium fuse and a moody temperament, fiercely loyal, very critical, cynical, but ironically, the life of the party. I’ve never been in a fight, but I reckon I’d really go to town for the right reason.
WHAT?
I’ve slowed down and I appreciate slow photography. For many years I thought I was a street photographer and I did street photography, but I wasn’t and I didn’t (it was all really shit and it no longer exists), but I guess I was learning things along the way. At the moment, I’m really liking Mark Steinmetz. I’m trying a longer focal length, but prying my fingers off that 28mm is really difficult. As is approaching people, especially when you don’t think much of yourself – how are you going to sell this to a stranger? It was much easier when you thought you were something, with fake swagger and a tad of cockiness. People bought that, but now they can smell what you can smell, and so what’s the point of even trying. But you keep trying.
WHERE?
I’m based in Sydney – a soul-less, philistine city of suits and real estate-chasing cash pigs, devoid of any natural, organic, humanistic cultural movement. Whatever masquerades as that has been carefully think-tanked. Yes, the famous light is there, but it is quite one-dimensional and totally lacks subtlety. And it kills intimacy.
I like to drive inland whenever I can, where the earth gets redder and life sparser. I also like to photograph people playing in water, so I guess this is where this city works for me.
In general though, in regards to the whole country, I think there’s too much optimism and not enough desperation and rebelliousness. And definitely too many rules. But ultimately, there are things to photograph everywhere – just gotta stop making excuses.
WHEN?
I started taking photographs when I was 31 (in 2006), and I quickly realised that with a camera in my hand the shyness disappeared, and I could engage with people and enter places and come out with something. The next 12 or so years were a mix of everything, including shooting weddings, but things changed several years ago when I had some personal revelations, which changed the way at looked at everything. Photography, all of a sudden, had a deeper meaning, and it was like starting over again.
WHY?
This is the only thing I can do which is beyond mediocre. I read an interview recently about realising you might not have the chops for something, and since then I’ve stopped chasing it (I didn’t exactly know what I was chasing in the first place). Ironically, everything has improved since. I think it might actually bring me joy.
