Spotlight: Morgan Munday
Settling into the coastal town of Byron Bay has allowed Morgan to integrate her collective experiences, and weave them all together in a practice of content creation and photography, as she moves seamlessly between styling, producing and creative directing. A multi-disciplinary creative, Morgan’s got a history that takes her from coast to coast, city to town.
An earthly Taurian, she’s happiest by the sea.
A recurring theme in her work, she is wildly attracted to nature and finds inspiration in coastal environments, with a draw toward natural textures and tones, and the spectrum of colour they produce. Looking through Morgan’s collection of images, we understand the depth of this influence - in the grain of the film and the look & feel of her imagery - relaxed, honest and effortlessly cool.
Tell us about the interplay of producer, stylist and creative director - do they complement each other? Do you find there is a flow of all when on a job, or you might be hired for one role more?
I'm very lucky to have been able to combine skills I've learned and developed over the years working in the fashion and lifestyle industry and mash it into one job, I find they work so well together (and separately!)
I love that I can cater my services to each client and their needs and I'll often initially get approached for one thing and they will end up adding on other services too.
I also do some film photography and was a hair stylist and visual merchandiser in my younger years so I think having a good general understanding of different aspects and other roles on set helps me work really well with a team too.
Your style of work is effortless and cool - was your style a natural progression of your work or did your work shape your style?
Oh thank you! I think creatively you do evolve with age, as you learn and spend time in the industry. My style is definitely a natural progression of my work and me navigating my creativity - trying to find what I like and what I don't like. I spent years working for different brands in-house with the restraints of their vision and found my creativity thrives the most when I'm given more creative freedom with projects so that's when i made the move to freelance full time, plus the bonus of having more time to work on personal projects which has helped shape my style more and more.
I actually get asked alot what I studied, but I don't personally believe that creativity can necessarily be studied, it's something you're born with and can spend time developing and training your eye. Career growth in the industry comes from being encouraged and supported and surrounding yourself with like-minded creatives who are doing their own thing, and doing it really well!
FOILE
How do you stay current, where do you find and source inspiration?
Honestly for me, with the risk of sounding hugely cliche I find travelling really inspiring and rejuvenates me so much creatively and mentally. I think after being restricted so much with the pandemic the last few years this has become even more apparent. Having different surroundings, food, people, music, culture is so hugely important and I love spending time researching, browsing and walking in nature (or cities!)I feel instantly inspired by anything nice to look at, so there's also an alarming amount of screenshots on my phone haha. I have so many folders, pinterest boards of anything from packaging and image layouts to 90's fashion editorials. Having this helps me get a short burst of inspiration when I need it and I'm not travelling much.
Any challenges on set you've overcome and topped off with your dream day or dream job?
I'd have to say, imposter syndrome would be my main career challenge. I'm not sure it's something I'll ever necessarily overcome but I often get half way through a job or day on set and have a real 'why on earth do these people want me here?' It's kind of surreal working in a job that you've spent years working towards and you suddenly come to, and realise you're getting closer to your dream job.
TEMPLE OF THE SUN
NAGNATA
CHARLIE HOLIDAY
NOT WASTED
