Artist Profile: Aden Meser
Aden Meser speaks about photography with such passion, it almost made me want to quit my job and pick up a camera. Despite his reserved persona, Aden’s photography is bold, provoking and brimming with personality. His recent project To Be A Man is a photobook that tells the story of Aden’s life as a transgender man. It captures and beautifully contrasts the monumental events and quiet moments of a man undergoing a medical and social transition. Fresh out of Massey where he completed an Honour’s degree in photography in 2020, Aden is ready to fuck shit up.
Aden describes his early interest in cameras as not only a tool to express himself, but also as a way to make his high school experience a little more liveable. “I really hated sports so I was just like ‘can I be the photographer for it’?”
Aden still remembers the first photo he took. It was at a year eight camp trip, which let’s face it, probably awoke things in all of us. Armed with a disposable camera, he set out to take photos of his surroundings. “From then on, I knew, I wanted to be a photographer,” he says. He still has those photos even now, but laughingly admits, “they’re horrific, it’s so funny”. Aden still takes photos of his surroundings, but these days they look a lot different. In 2019, he organised 37 photoshoots over three months with “drag kings, drag queens, drag performers. Some in big groups, some on their own.” It was through this project that Aden’s connections in the drag community began to seriously grow. In the two years since then, he has taken thousands of photos of drag artists in their element and is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after photographers in the Wellington drag scene.
Rewind to 2017, and Aden was making the move from the small town of Mouteka to Wellington. He describes Motueka as “very reserved. I was keeping who I was mainly to myself. There wasn’t really a place [in Motueka] to be out as trans at that point. I wasn’t out publicly." Aden went to his first pride parade that year in Wellington and was transfixed. “I was like, urgh god, this is what I want to be doing! I want to be taking queer photos, just really, really queer photos.” Back then, to Aden, drag was this “amazing and incredible thing” that he would love to photograph, but he had no idea how to make the first move.
In his third year, he was able to realise this dream. He and Jack Rossie, a friend and collaborator, embarked on a project entitled “The Man Behind the King: Hugo Grrrl Documentary” around the same time, Aden also met his partner, “who was obsessed with drag and started doing drag themselves” which gave him the initial connections he needed to get his start in the drag community.
Faux Femm & Whoopsie Daisy
Years on, an Honour’s degree, a kickass portfolio and a full book on drag under his belt, Aden’s momentum is snowballing. He has to plans to take the drag book and remake it. “I have really big plans for it,” he reveals to Massive. Currently, he’s in the process of applying for creative funding and grants, but admits it’s a slow process. “I think it can go far, it’s just a few years in the making.” In the meantime, Aden is trying his hand at starting a business, admitting his dream is to open his own studio.
Ideally, his dream studio would be “in Wellington Central, which sounds very expensive,” he laughs. “I want to do so many different kinds of things, it’s so hard to pinpoint. I really like things like event photography or concert photography. And then I love studio and doing creative things, but I can do corporate things...I like it all!” Aden says his inspiration is Adam Elmakias, a famed music photographer, but says the scene is notoriously hard to break into.
Aden admits that, as much as photography is his passion, “I feel like I’m quite socially anxious and I put myself in situations where it’s like, ‘okay this is really hard for me but I know I want to be doing this’.” Currently, Aden mostly shoots with “very queer people” saying, “because I’m quite open about who I am, there’s instantly a kind of relationship and connection. It’s what I aim for, trying to create a connection.” He continues, “when I’m photographing anyone, even if they’re a stranger, I’m trying to treat them like they’re a friend. I’m like, how do I make this person feel as comfortable as possible?”
Amy Thurst
Aden is, frankly, a sickeningly talented photographer. His Instagram is full of life and colour. Aden explains that he loves posting on Instagram, saying, “A lot of people can’t be open in real life, so seeing other people be super open on the internet, it can really inspire and help them.” Aden recommends you check out fellow artists Jack Rossie and Carissa Corlett, the former who has acted like a ‘mentor’ towards the young photographer and opened her studio for his work. “She’s so nice, I just love her so much.”
If you want to support or see more from Aden, follow him on Insta at @adenmeser or on his website at adenmeser.com. His work is featured on the centrefold, the inside cover and throughout this issue.