Maggie McKenna

Photographer

Editorial Work

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Location: New York City

Nationality: American

Biography: Maggie is a student at the School of Visual Arts set to earn her BFA in Photography in 2017. She is interested in the American Beauty Industry and its effects on young women. She focuses her efforts on editing more so than taking... MORE

Concepted laying clothes out on... authentic environmental scene.

Concepted laying clothes out on a bed to display the "capsule closet" clothes while showing an authentic environmental scene.

Found this stock photo to depic...r 20's wearing glasses.

Found this stock photo to depict a woman in her 20's wearing glasses.

Found photos on stock sites and...atch each segment of the story.

Found photos on stock sites and Instagram that show a woman in the first person in authentic scenes that match each segment of the story.

Concepted this shot and recomme...art to get trendy on Instagram.

Concepted this shot and recommended this kind of blanket after seeing it start to get trendy on Instagram.

(Same story as the previous pag...g them organized for designers.

(Same story as the previous page) Nail Polish Flowers: Learned from failure and kept pushing past difficulties! I contacted agencies and artists asking if anyone had made photos of nail polish blobs in the shape of a flower that we could license. One photographer offered to make some photos for us, but she strayed from my inspiration photos and direction repeatedly and instead made photos that looked like fireworks. I felt horrible since I tried to step outside of my comfort zone by hiring someone for my first time and trying to direct remotely. I felt that I had cost our team $500 (half-day rate) on photos that didn't match our plan. But I didn't know what "shooting on spec" was and I didn't know that the photographer understood she was shooting on spec. We didn't license her photos, and instead we hired a stylist to help make the photos with our in-house photographer just how we wanted them. There were more obstacles and lessons learned from these frustrating flowers that I'd be happy to share upon request.

The other photos on this page were secured by contacting PR people, pushing back for more options if needed, and keeping them organized for designers.

(Same story as the previous pag...ery hands-on Creative Director.

(Same story as the previous page) Directed the photography in each spot with focus on fitting the allotted layout space. Worked with a stylist, the page designer, and (remotely) our very hands-on Creative Director.

Concepted this opener. In a lar... might relate to and aspire to.

Concepted this opener. In a large meeting of ~10 editors, designers, and directors, an editor listed her products and ideas to be featured in the 3 page story of helpful pieces for a mom of teens. When figuring out what would open the story, plenty ideas were given until we were all stumped. I recommended showing the spirulina capsules (one of the products listed in the story) since I had seen how trendy and photogenic colorful smoothies are on Instagram, also since I add spirulina to my smoothies at home, and since we like to show section openers that look like authentic yet pretty situations that a mom might relate to and aspire to.

(Same story as previous page.) ...e cover of our June 2018 issue.

(Same story as previous page.) Found this photo on Instagram and kept emailing the photographer until I heard back and we got the image. We licensed several of her images since. One of which became the cover of our June 2018 issue.

(Same story as the previous pag...ph. (top left and bottom right)

(Same story as the previous page) Directed two out of five of the subscription clothing box images. I received images from each company, but they weren't all cohesive, so I asked to have two of them sent to me to photograph. (top left and bottom right)

Concepted how to show a teen va...ge designer model. Resourceful!

Concepted how to show a teen vaping after not finding anything decent on stock sites. Bought a juul, pulled clothes from my own closet, borrowed jewelry and notebook from my colleagues, location scouted around our office building, and had the page designer model. Resourceful!

(Same story as the previous pag...photo directed sunglasses shot.

(Same story as the previous page) Styled and photo directed sunglasses shot.

Found photo on a stock site.

(Same story as the previous pag... lotion from our Beauty Editor.

(Same story as the previous page) Styled and photo-directed lotion jar. I also supplied the lotion jar from my own bathroom and requested the right texture of lotion from our Beauty Editor.

Photo directed and assisted sty...o to use as a phone background.

Photo directed and assisted stylist in sourcing props and styling. Also found the stock photo to use as a phone background.

Styled jewelry and photo directed.

Acted as craft stylist. Bought ... and created pie chart by hand.

Acted as craft stylist. Bought paper and cut each piece according to photo and text body sizes. Painted silhouettes and created pie chart by hand.

PLAY

STOP

GRID

FULL

LOVE

Thumbnail of Concepted laying clothes out on _n authentic environmental scene.

Thumbnail of Found this stock photo to depict_er 20's wearing glasses.

Thumbnail of Found photos on stock sites and _match each segment of the story.

Thumbnail of Concepted this shot and recommen_tart to get trendy on Instagram.

Thumbnail of (Same story as the previous page_ng them organized for designers.

Thumbnail of (Same story as the previous page_very hands-on Creative Director.

Thumbnail of Concepted this opener. In a larg_m might relate to and aspire to.

Thumbnail of (Same story as previous page.) F_he cover of our June 2018 issue.

Thumbnail of (Same story as the previous page_aph. (top left and bottom right)

Thumbnail of Concepted how to show a teen vap_age designer model. Resourceful!

Thumbnail of (Same story as the previous page_ photo directed sunglasses shot.

Thumbnail of Found photo on a stock site.

Thumbnail of (Same story as the previous page_f lotion from our Beauty Editor.

Thumbnail of Photo directed and assisted styl_to to use as a phone background.

Thumbnail of Styled jewelry and photo directed.

Thumbnail of Acted as craft stylist. Bought p_s and created pie chart by hand.

Public Story

Editorial Work

Copyright Maggie McKenna 2024

Date of Work Jul 2017 - May 2019

Updated Sep 2019

Topics Photography

From July 2017 - May 2019, I was been the Assistant Photo Editor at Family Circle magazine. Within the 2-person photo team, creative opportunities and responsibilities included: brainstorming how to visualize stories with the art team, directing smaller photo shoots, creating videos and gifs for Instagram and web; finding existing images to license via stock sites, direct photographer inquiries, and Instagram scrolling. Here are some of my proudest creative moments at Family Circle.

Descriptions of the work can be found below each page.