member Spotlight: Robby Mcguire
Hey Robby! Give us a quick and snappy Bio:
The defining moment in my photographic life so far came about 4 years ago on the day my first son was born. At that time, my ever-patient wife was enduring my aspirations as a “Photographer-of-cool-things-to-post-to-Instagram”. She’d hear me say phrases like “Honey, if we wait until after breakfast to hike, the light is going to be terrible” or “Just one more shot. Hang on. I just want to…ope, one sec. Let me swap lenses quick.”
But on July 17th, 2021 I stood in the NICU watching our son get accessorized with all manner of medical equipment as they rushed to keep him breathing. After a while, they wheeled my wife in so she could meet the little fella. She reached out her hand and his little fingers grabbed on. I snapped a picture of the moment and…wait, I only have 10 sentences? Holy cats. Ok.
TLDR: That photograph instantly made any other picture I’d ever taken meaningless in comparison. And over these last four years as our family has grown, I have fallen in love with photography all over again as a means to capturing the joys and tantrums of life in our house. So now I devote my photography to preserving these moments, both for our family and for others.
What’s in your camera bag?
Ha! Nice try. You know as well as I do that we can't resist chances to chat about gear. But I'm not falling for it! I've seen how my wife's eyes glaze over when I start saying things like "but this one has an additional function button!" or "Can you feel how clicky this aperture ring is? Isn't it just so satisfying!?"
Who are we kidding? Of course I'm all over a chance to talk about my gear. Let me just fix my glasses and pull out my pre-prepared 16 page manifesto on why My Gear Is The Best Gear.
Nah, I wouldn't do that to you.
These days I keep it simple. I sold off about 16 pounds of cameras, lenses, and indecision and bought a battered Leica QP collecting dust in the used section of my local camera store. Unless I'm shooting a wedding or professional family session, that's all I carry around.
Are there any projects you are currently working on? Tell us about them.
At the start of the year, I set a resolution: take one photo every day of life in our home. I think photographers tend to call this something like a “Project 365.” Realistically, even if you count the night I photographed a loaf of bread on our kitchen counter, I’m tracking closer to a “Project 347.” But that’s okay.
It’s at least partially true that I began this project after finally accepting that resolving to “look like Brad Pitt by December” was, once again, setting myself (and my wife) up for disappointment. In spite of that humble origin, this project has led me to some of my favorite images. More importantly, it’s changed how I operate with a camera in my daily life. I’ve shifted from “have my camera nearby in case something remarkable happens” to “have my camera ready because life here is full of small, remarkable moments."
It’s also been therapeutic. The last few years have brought their share of challenges for our family, and my mental health was taking a nosedive. Like, "stare into the soul of this ham sandwich I'm making for my son and ponder existential philosophy" level. Photography as a daily project has helped yank me out of murky moments like those and help me stay in the here-and-now.
Out of all of your images, which one is your current favorite and why?
Robby’s Favorite Image
Let's preface this by saying that this is by no means a spectacular image. But it's somewhat the utter ordinariness of it that has had me revisiting it often. It's a little like how my favorite movie as a kid was Home Alone 3, which was the off-brand, made-for-TV, bargain bin movie of the franchise. Growing up, we weren't wealthy family, so the few movies we did own were the sort that appeared in the "please take this off our hands because nobody will rent it" bin at our local video store. Which is how we came to own Home Alone 3. It wasn't until much later that I learned that most people aren't even aware that a third movie in the series even exists.
Anyway, this was the first picture I took in my "Project 365" project. My wife and I had dumped a zillion baby toys out on a blanket it the hopes of distracting our 6-month-old for long enough to fold some laundry. The room is a mess, there are crumpled clothes all over the floor, and my son isn't even entirely in focus. It's an authentic glimpse into our messy, chaotic life. And I love it.
My philosophy toward documenting my family has shifted away from idyllic moments in perfect light to photos like this one: imperfect, honest, and a little messy. I've never loved my work more, and it all started with this one, ordinary picture. So that's pretty neat.
What are your earliest memories of creating art/making photography?
My dad has always carried a camera around. He was a legend at family photos. He would get us all to stand and face the camera, crouch down and turn his hat backwards, look into the viewfinder and say "Alright gang, ready?" at which point he would realize the lens cap was still on. He'd remove that, get his shot lined up again, set the 10 second timer, say "Okay here we go!" and sprint back to the rest of us to try and get in the picture. After 3 or 4 attempts my sister's exasperation could be measured by seismometers across the globe, at which point my dad would say "Okay, everyone. Let's do one more, just to be safe."
My first memories with a camera in my hand were from a family trip we took around that time. We'd been in the car for what felt like 36 of the last 24 hours and had stopped at a park to stretch our legs. I remember him telling me about changing the f-stop and how it could make different parts of the image in or out of focus, then letting me try it out. I laid on a picnic table and pointed the camera up at the sky, moving the aperture up and down.
My first camera, which may have come on that same trip, was a hand-me-down hit pink 110 film camera from my sister. We drove past a deer on the side of the road and I think I spent my entire roll of film right then and there. In my defense, it was probably a super cool looking deer.
What would be your dream super power and why?
Laws of physics aside, 100% the ability to pause time. As I move through my 30s, time keeps going faster and faster and I'm not getting much better at slowing down to savor it. Also, I feel like it's an evening occurrence that [Insert Crisis Had by 4 Year Old] happens right as the pot of water on the stove is boiling over and my wife is calling to ask if I remembered to so that super important thing she reminded me about earlier. I would love to pause time, finish dinner, attend to the kids, and quickly do the thing for my wife that I forgot to do.
Plus, if I could pause time I feel like I would have a fighting chance at beating her in Scrabble some time before I die.
