Last Updated on 3/19/2010

Published on 7/16/2008
Written by Clayton Stairs

Mike Keegin has been fascinated by the subject of seafood since he was a child, growing up in Maryland.
Now living in Georgetown, Keegin has spent as much time as possible over the last two years hanging around with local shrimper Bobby Goings and tagging along on day trips aboard his trawler, the Miss Nichole.
A photojournalism project Keegin has created using his best photographs of these experiences, has brought the plight of the shrimping industry to national attention. His photographs and the story, which tells of the many challenges faced by local shrimpers, was recently placed on a national Web site called Digital Film Maker. He also intends to have the story published in National Geographic Magazine.
Moving to this area about four years ago, Keegin and his wife, Sunny Smith, have been using their talents as photographers for their business called A Beautiful Day Photography. They have been very successful, shooting more than 150 weddings and other special occasions each year.
Their photography has also

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appeared on a number of magazine covers, calendars and books and they have had hundreds of front-page photos run in various newspapers across the country. They have also had the great fortune to photograph many celebrities like Drew Barrymore, Peter Fonda, Kenny Chesney, Leslie Nielsen, Tom Cruise and Sarah the Duchess of York, to name a few.
In his spare time, Keegin has been following his passion for delving into important issues in the community where he lives. His shrimping story is the first of many to come.

Shrimping
In his story, Keegin focusses on the shrimping industry on the coast of South Carolina by following the activities of Goings and the crew of the Miss Nichole. It gives the public a rare peek into the life of a shrimper during a typical shrimping season.
“It is a pretty broad and pretty complete look at shrimping in general,” Keegin said. “People will certainly get a really good idea what a day in the  life of a shrimper looks like, as well as certain other aspects of the industry.”
He discusses the many struggles faced by shrimpers today, including rising fuel costs and the widespread sale of imported shrimp, which is many times passed off as fresh local shrimp. Keegin says it was the issue of imported shrimp that motivated him to complete this project. He includes a photograph of a box of imported frozen shrimp from Peru out of a local seafood market’s dumpster with the pictures in his photo-journal.
“I feel there is a thing called accountability and responsibility — some sort of connection with the community that doesn’t allow you to do things like that,” Keegin said. “It is damaging to the livelihood of the shrimpers and it is damaging to the community as a whole.”
Goings, who has been shrimping for more than 30 years, says he would challenge anyone to taste a fresh local shrimp and an imported shrimp and see if they can tell the difference.
“Take one of these shrimp here, fry it up and put it beside one of the imports,” Goings said. “Anyone who tells me they can’t tell the difference has something wrong with their taste buds. There is no taste to (the imported shrimp).”
When restaurants and seafood distributors sell imported shrimp, it reduces the price of local shrimp. That, combined with the rising price of fuel has forced many local shrimpers out of business.
Goings himself says that once he pays his crew of 2 or 3 men off the top of his profits from the shrimp, he must use what is left for bills. His fuel bill is about $4,000, plus $5,000 worth of ice and a $500 drum of oil for each trip (daily Monday through Friday).
“I’m working for the fuel bill and the fun of it, I guess,” Goings said. “Trust me, my wife isn’t too happy.”
He says it used to be “sky’s the limit,” when shrimpers could “go out there and drag your but off and work hard.”
“When fuel was cheap and the price for shrimp was up, you could make a good living, a real good living,” Goings said. “But now that is over.”

Gullah-Geechee
Another topic Keegin plans to pursue as his next project is the Gullah-Geechee culture in Georgetown County. He has already spoken to Bunny Rodrigues, owner of the Gullah Ooman Museum and Gallery in Pawleys Island, and Ron Daise, who is a representative for this area for the Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.
He also went out clamming near Pawleys Island with Rick the Crab Man, a local fisherman who practices time-honored techniques for fishing. He says the hardest part was making his way through the pluff mud and sharp oyster shells.
“That is not something I would want to do all the time,” Keegin said. “That is hard work.”
He says he hopes his photo journals will expose some important issues in our community and that people will learn from his experiences.
“These are just interesting photography projects that I have chosen to pursue,” Keegin said. “Hopefully, people will be interested to learn about some of these problems and issues.”
To view Keegin’s Web journal about shrimping, visit http://homepage.mac.com/mkeegin/ShrimpingWebJournal/. Another journal, on a broad range of topics can be found on http://homepage.mac.com/mkeegin/TheWorldOfMike/
To contact Beautiful Day Photography, visit www.thephotomuse.com.