Dec 23

Dec 23 Photo Journal Monday: Morganna Magee

Teenage Wildlife

My teenage years are vivid. After a childhood marred by sadness I relished in the independence of being able to rebel. I was shaped by those wild years, though the only physical evidence remaining are the scars on my arms, my teen years have made me an uncommonly calm adult.

In this long form, ongoing series I present portraits of teenage girls living in and around greater Melbourne.

©Morganna Magee, Daisyanna, 16 and Cam, 16My friendship with Daisy developed with the speed and intensity reserved for teenage girls. The instant reach of social media meant she could contact me constantly and because I was not an authority figure i… — ©Morganna Magee, Daisyanna, 16 and Cam, 16
My friendship with Daisy developed with the speed and intensity reserved for teenage girls. The instant reach of social media meant she could contact me constantly and because I was not an authority figure in her life, she was unfiltered and open with me. The next time I saw her she had a boyfriend, Cam, who looked much younger than Daisy when she was made up and posing for my camera. Cam would proudly tell me about his petty crimes, showing me photos of his graffiti and images of him with his friends, drunk and throwing gang signs.

The three girls, Daisyanna and her cousins Shania and Teeya are photographed over a 5 year period during which time they experience their first heartbreak, self medicate with drug experimentation and eventually become mothers. Boyfriends remain transient in the photos, always playing secondary roles in the girls lives as the girls grow in front of the camera.

Statistically teenagers in Australia are healthier and more privileged than ever before however for girls like Daisy, Shania and Teeya, intergenerational poverty, mental illness and lack of education paint a different picture. In continuing to photograph them I watch the cycle begin to re-establish.

©Morganna Magee, Daisy and her mother, 2015.Daisy’s mother is an exceedingly kind woman known as Angel Kathy to her friends and family. She suffers from debilitating illness and told me she could not control her daughter whom she has knicknamed “Cyc… — ©Morganna Magee, Daisy and her mother, 2015.
Daisy’s mother is an exceedingly kind woman known as Angel Kathy to her friends and family. She suffers from debilitating illness and told me she could not control her daughter whom she has knicknamed “Cyclone Daisy”.

.In a world of social media, easy gratification and uncertainty, this body of work engages with young and vulnerable women whom are rarely given such a spotlight, asking the viewer to challenge traditional held notions around the complexities growing up.