“Embracing Identity: How a Welsh Photographer Transforms Class and Size into Strength”

The realm of fashion often faces criticism for elitism and a fixation on slenderness, but photographer and model Megan Winstone claims that being Welsh, plus-sized, and from a working-class background has proven advantageous in her career.

In recent years, the 30-year-old has photographed for magazines like Vogue and worked with brands such as Dr. Martens, with her artwork acquired by National Museum Wales.

“I believe people are more at ease with me perhaps because I’m plus-sized… or maybe it’s my working-class background or my Welsh identity,” she mentioned.

“I reduce the ego, perhaps I humble them.”

Raised in the small valleys town of Abercynon in south Wales, educators told her she would not achieve much.

“I have few to no GCSEs, I have autism, and I also possess a speech and language difficulty,” she stated.

Photography became an outlet for her self-expression.

At the age of seven or eight, she received a Polaroid camera and immediately started taking pictures of her friends, family, and neighbors.

“I was like, ‘I’m not going to capture nature or landscape photography; I’m diving straight into communities and photographing the most vibrant individuals,'” she recalled.

“I truly desire authentic individuals in my creations… those who typically lack representation.”

Megan began compiling a portfolio influenced by punk culture, her origins in the valleys, and challenging societal norms regarding body image.

Being admitted to Arts University Bournemouth solely based on the merit of her portfolio was “a significant turning point” for her, yet despite the change in environment, her work consistently linked back to the south Wales valleys.

“It’s an intimate community; you know everyone’s rumors and family history, and there’s a sense of security to it,” she mentioned.

“You can simply walk into people’s homes; doors are often left unlocked… there’s no initial hurdle to dialogue, like that customary politeness, it’s direct.”

In 2019, collaborating with other Welsh talents – fashion stylist Charlotte Wilcock and writer and editor of Polyester magazine Gina Tonic, who isfrom the adjacent Mountain Ash, she conceptualized her Lily of the Valley initiative.

“It was like a love note to the valleys,” she expressed.

“A ‘we’re all stunning here’.”

She mentioned that the goal had been to “shake it up” with a “faded charm, working-class aesthetic”.

“We contacted designers and local makeup artists and gathered assistants, then we just invaded Abercynon, shooting in my gran’s bedroom, our garden, down the gully, atop the mountain, and when lunch arrived we barged into my local chippy,” she noted.

Two of the resultant photos from this initiative have been acquired by National Museum Wales.

“This was my initial significant cover and my first ‘in’ with the fashion scene,” stated Megan.

“Amelia is truly a star. It was remarkable and transformed my career; I adored it.”

A feature on Dua Saleh from the Netflix series Sex Education, shot at the Caerleon Roman Amphitheatre wearing Prada for Face magazine was another standout moment.

“That was phenomenal; I relished that session,” she remarked.

“Being a little goth emo, Kerrang! dominated my world from the age of 10 onwards… my ultimatecareer goal was to aim for Kerrang!,” stated Megan.

It eventually came to fruition in January when she captured images of the American rock group Sleater-Kinney and Brighton’s own Lambrini Girls for the magazine’s front cover.

She mentioned that her involvement in the music scene had “snowballed” since that time, and she has been collaborating with Atlantic Records, most recently taking photos of Welsh rock artist and rising talent Hannah Grae from Port Talbot.

She noted that the industry has been advancing in recognizing diverse physiques and backgrounds and credited part of her accomplishments in modelling and photography to being “in the right place at the right moment”.

“It’s astonishing to exceed my teacher’s expectations of ‘you won’t become much’ – I have now been in spaces with Suzi Quatro and rock legends,” remarked Megan.

“I’ve reached many milestones, but I’m still ascending and striving to elevate myself.

“It feels somewhat like a fantasy.”