‘Welsh, fat and working class is my superpower’

The fashion world is often criticized for its elitism and obsession with thinness, but photographer and model Megan Winston says being Welsh, plump and working class has become an asset in her career.

Over the years the 30-year-old has photographed for publications including brands such as Vogue and Dr. Martens and her work has been purchased by the National Museum Wales.

She said, “I think people feel more comfortable with me, maybe because I’m fat… or maybe it’s my working style or my Welshness.”

“I take away egos, just as I probably humble them.”

Growing up in the small town of Abercynon in the valleys of south Wales, her teachers told her she wouldn’t be able to do much.

“I have very few or no GCSEs, I have autism, I also have a speech and language disorder,” he said.

Photography was a way to express myself.

When she was seven or eight years old, she was given a Polaroid camera and immediately began taking photographs of her friends, family, and neighbors.

“I was like, ‘I’m not going to do nature, I’m not going to do landscape photography, I’m going to go straight into communities and photograph the wildest people ever’,” she said.

“I really want authentic people in my work…people who don’t typically get a voice.”

Megan began creating a body of work, working against punk culture, her valley upbringing, and societal expectations of body image.

Being accepted into the Arts University Bournemouth on the strength of his portfolio was “a major moment” for him, but despite the change of scene his work constantly returned to the valleys of South Wales.

He said, “It’s tight-knit, you know everyone’s gossip, know everyone’s lineage and there’s a comfort in that.”

“You can just go into people’s houses, the doors are open most of the time… There’s no initial barrier to conversation, like that politeness, it’s straight out there.”

In 2019, working with other Welsh talents – fashion stylist Charlotte Wilcock and writer and editor of Polyester magazine Gina Tonic, who is from nearby Mountain Ash, she created her Lily of the Valley project.

“It was kind of a love letter to the valleys,” he said.

“An’ we’re all beautiful here.”

He said the intention was to “shake it up” with a “faded glamour, working-class scene”.

“We contacted designers and local make-up artists and called assistants and then we stormed Abercynon, just shooting in my grandfather’s bedroom, in our garden, down the drain, on the top of the mountain and then when lunch When the time came, we popped into my local chippy,” he said.

Two of the resulting images have been purchased by the National Museum Wales for this project.

“It was my first big cover and my first ‘in’ with the fashion crowd,” Megan said.

“Amelia is just a superstar. It was amazing and it changed my career, I loved it.”

A profile on Dua Saleh from the Netflix series Sex Education, photographed wearing Prada for Face magazine at the Caroline Roman Amphitheater was another highlight.

“That was incredible, I loved that shoot,” he said.

Megan said, “Being a bit of a goth emo, Kerrang! ruled my world from the age of 10… My ultimate career ambition was to shoot for Kerrang!”

This finally happened in January when he photographed American rock band Sleater-Kinney and Brighton-based duo Lambrini Girls for the cover of the magazine.

She said her work in music has “snowballed” since then and she has been working with Atlantic Records, most recently photographing Welsh rock musician and rising star Hannah Gray from Port Talbot.

She said the industry is improving in terms of celebrating diverse bodies and backgrounds and attributed her success in modeling and photography to being “in the right place at the right time.”

Megan said, “To live up to my teacher’s expectation of ‘You can’t have much’ is incredible – I’ve now been in the room with Suzi Quatro and rock stars.”

“I have achieved a lot but I am still moving forward and trying to push myself further.

“It feels like a dream.”