Learning to understand the delicate and often subjective art of what makes something beautiful can be eye-opening. Is it glowing yellow fish as they glide underwater? Is it wind dancing through emerald green trees? For artist and photographer Shoog McDaniel, it’s all of these things with one very important addition: self-love.
McDaniel, who uses they/them pronouns and goes by Sugar McD on social media, has been making fascinating art for quite some time. This often involves stunning shots of them swimming underwater. What takes these clips to the next level is the poetic voiceover McDaniel often adds over the visuals, integrating the arts into powerful statement pieces.
Finding joy in self love
In a recent clip posted to Instagram, they share a video of themselves jumping full-force into a duckweed spring, a pond ripe with yellowish-green leaves. The words they use to describe self-acceptance, while zooming out to show how beautiful their surroundings are, perfectly exemplify inner and outer beauty.
They explain in the clip, “I visited the Duckweed Spring again yesterday. I asked these people who were there if they could help me record myself jumping in, and then I recorded them as well. I can’t really do the high dive here because it hurts too bad when I hit the water. Being adventurous and also clumsy is not the best combo. So I’ll get my thrills other places.”
The next part is extra moving. “I’m usually wearing a pretty tight bathing suit when I make these videos of me underwater. So many people comment on my funny body shape. I rather enjoy the cartoons people post…the memes comparing me to characters with skinny legs and arms and big middle bodies. They’re very cute, and it helps me feel cute as well. So I feel like it’s a win/win. Even though I’m very aware they’re trying to make fun of me. I’m un-make-fun-able. Unless you’re a close friend and I deeply care about what you think. I just dn’t really mind it. I love myself. And I hope y’all do too.”
People find Shoog inspiring
The comments under the video are so incredibly supportive. Many are drawn to McDaniel’s use of the word “un-make-fun-able,” with one Instagrammer claiming it should be a “new mantra.”
Another writes, “Being unmakefunable is so real. The internet will always be mean and full of people that are generally unpleasant and hateful, and their opinions don’t matter. It feels good knowing that there’s people you’ll never be able to please, and that isn’t your fault. People will continue to be themselves, no matter who you are. So just be you.”
This person simply gives a beautiful compliment, writing, “You are pure magic and whimsy, and your videos always make me smile. Love how much the water calls to you.”
A visual storyteller’s artistic soul
Upworthy had the pleasure of chatting with McDaniel, who shares that their art treasures truly began as someone else’s trash. “I got my hands on some disposable cameras that had been thrown in a dumpster in my early 20s, and I fell in love with documentation. I mostly loved the part where people get to feel seen in a new way, and I grew to love telling stories through images.”
McDaniel shares how proud they are of one of their other projects, as well. “I love the short film called Tibby Down Below that I just released on YouTube. It took a whole year of setting up my camera and watching fish interact with my ceramic sculptures to tell the story of transformation and the Florida Springs that I am so inspired by. A labor of love! And collaboration!”
Responding to the idea of being un-make-fun-able, McDaniel has clarity. “I just don’t take seriously criticism from people who I do not trust. I have before, for a lot of my life when I did not have friends. That is who I listen to, and it led me to deep, dark depression lol. I have learned and grown, and I understand that my worth and value is expansive, and I listen to my friends for reflection and feedback. Mike Wazowski forever!” The last statement references the beloved character from Disney Pixar’s hit 2001 film Monsters, Inc, and a subsequent meme McDaniel says they’re often sent.
Despite not having formal artist training, McDaniel seems to find serenity in the most unique places and loves to merely document them. On their Patreon, they share even more curated stories. “I obsessively document the pretty things I see every day,” they share.
