Meg Handler - LENSCRATCH

Meg Handler by Aline SmithsonNovember 19, 2012

Some time ago, I happened to see this photograph on Facebook. I was immediately drawn to the image and wanted to know more about the photographer, Meg Handler.

UFO Convention, Rosewell, New Mexico

What I wasn’t expecting when I e-mailed Meg, was what a generous and multi-talented photographer and editor she was. And I love that it was from looking at one image I made a new friend. We recently spent the day together in Chicago and she helped me outfit my Rolleiflex with a flash, setting me on a new path to making photographs. I am sharing Meg’s project, Fans, today, created between 1994-2001.

Meg is a photo editor and documentary photographer. The former photo editor of The Village Voice, Meg has also worked at U.S. News & World Report, Blender, New York Magazine, COLORS and Polaris Images. She has edited a number of books, including the monograph, Phil Stern: A Life’s Work, PAPARAZZI by Peter Howe, and POT CULTURE by Shirley Halperin and Steve Bloom. After 20 years of immersion in the photography business, and having worked with some of the great photographers in New York and abroad, Meg now lives in Chicago. She worked as the principle photographer for The Grant Park Music Festival at Millennium Park, and BIGArt at Navy Pier. Currently, assisting in the production of of BagNews Salons, Meg received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Fans

I have looked at a lot of photographs over the years, working as a photo editor for the Village Voice and numerous other publications, but decided to create a series of my own work when I was inspired by a “Jesus Sighting”in Washington Heights, New York. A few hundred people stood in line, gathered in the courtyard of an apartment building to see an image of Christ in a bathroom window. They saw it, I did not. Even though I didn’t witness the second coming of Christ, I was intrigued by the intensity of their experience and their desire to be in the company of something that moved them deeply. If people are so enthralled by a vision, what happens when they see their icons in real life?

Papal Mass, Central Park, NYC

I decided to take a closer look at the phenomenon of FANS, every day people that want to rub up against some magic or star power at a Papal Mass in Central Park, football games, political rallies, a UFO convention and Graceland on the anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death. What I discovered was an almost universal reflection of adoration–the experience of the individual in the crowd, their dedication, commitment and faith becomes clear in their faces.