Megan Doherty
Born: 22/01/93, currently based in Derry, Northern Ireland.
Education: BA Hons Photography, Belfast College of Art, University of Ulster, 2013 – 2016.
Exhibitions: Photo Ireland Festival. Group show. Temple Bar Street. Dublin, Ireland. July 2022. Crawford Gallery. SATURATION: The Everyday Transformed. Group show. Cork, Ireland. January 2022. Seen Fifteen Gallery. British Journal of Photography: International Photography Awards. Group show. London, UK. May 2021. JM Gallery. Open Doors. Grow show. London, UK. February 2020. Unseen Amsterdam. Futures. Group show. Amsterdam, Netherlands. September 2019. Hang Tough Gallery. FIX. Group show. Dublin, Ireland. July 2019. Golden Thread Gallery. Abridged: Changeling. Solo show. Belfast, Northern Ireland. July 2019. Seen Fifteen Gallery. Triptych. Group show. L’Espace Lhomond. Paris, France. November 2017. Void Gallery. Stoned in Melanchol. Solo show. Derry, Northern Ireland. September 2017. Circulations: Festival of Young European Photography. Group show. The Centquatre. Paris France. February 2017.
Project Title: Stoned in Melanchol
My current photographic practice was born from an insatiable hunger for a world beyond the monotony of small-town life. While creating this series, I was feeling trapped, unfulfilled, and seeking escape from reality by any means necessary. It felt like myself, and those who surrounded me, were all feeling this sense of emptiness to an extent, whether we were aware of it or not. We came together during a daunting period where we were leaving our teenage years and entering young adulthood — the future was uncertain, and we had no concrete plan.
The photographs I began to create were a way of projecting the cinematic world in my head on to the landscape before me. By blurring the line between reality and fantasy, I was creating a means in which I could live vicariously through my work. However, what began as solely staged scenarios, organically evolved into the documentation of our lives and the relationships that we shared. We were navigating this uncertain period together, exploring our identity, celebrating what each of us had to offer, and taking comfort in the bond we were creating.