When you’re photographing teenage girls, what do you identify with most?
Melissa Ann Pinney:Their sense of fun and intimacy together.
TMN:What do you identify with least?
Melissa Ann Pinney:Leaving the house with intentionally visible bra and bra straps.
TMN:Have you watched Girls on HBO? Your opinion of it in six words or less?
Melissa Ann Pinney:Terrific and not for the faint-hearted.
TMN:How do projects begin for you?
Melissa Ann Pinney:With an insistent idea I’m compelled to follow.
TMN:When do they end?
Melissa Ann Pinney:With a book, a show, a deadline.
TMN:What’s your favorite camera at the moment?
Melissa Ann Pinney:It’s between my Mamiya 7II and my iPhone camera.
TMN:Does your daughter ever turn the camera on you?
Melissa Ann Pinney:Yes, we’re now making a double self-portrait every day of her senior year.
TMN:When do women outgrow girlhood?
Melissa Ann Pinney:I hope we never outgrow the playfulness and self-sufficiency of girlhood.
TMN:Which is your favorite airport?
Melissa Ann Pinney:The little airport on Maui. You can smell the ocean.
TMN:Coffee or tea?
Melissa Ann Pinney:Tea.
TMN:Newspapers or radio?
Melissa Ann Pinney:Radio.
TMN:When was the last time you cringed?
Melissa Ann Pinney:The wedding-gown scene in Bridesmaids.
TMN:When are children at their most noble?
Melissa Ann Pinney:When they’re with animals.
TMN:Do you nap?
Melissa Ann Pinney:Yes—it’s a necessary result of being a night-owl.
TMN:What makes for better art, working with family or working with strangers?
Melissa Ann Pinney:Strangers are always more cooperative than family.
TMN:What’s your least favorite aspect of parenting?
Melissa Ann Pinney:Eventually they become teenagers.
TMN:Where will you eat dinner tonight and with whom?
Melissa Ann Pinney:After Emma’s volleyball game, I’ll eat at home with my family.
