Curatorial Work

Paulo: So to start, I guess if you could just talk about the nature of the work and then  what  pushed you to decide now's the time to make this into a zine.

Kelly: Yeah, I love looking at other people's collection of work and the zines that they put out or photography books, and it's something that I've wanted to do for a long time, but I didn't quite have, a focus, a theme, something specific. I have a lot of work that I love that I've done, and it was hard to come up with  a theme for a project.

Over the last couple years, as I have been traveling, I've been trying to do a little bit more of my style of street-style photography. I would describe it as  observational. Like, I really want to be a member of that community, that neighborhood, that walk, that corner of the street and capturing people in their daily life, but in a non-invasive way. Like, a very subtle,  typically, maybe from behind or over someone's shoulder or their face is mostly obscured because I think today with social media and different ways of technology and capturing like moments, video, pictures, I can feel really uncomfortable when I notice I'm going to be in the background of someone's picture or photo that like I don't know.

So it has always been important for me to capture small moments.  In real life that maybe that person would never think of, but I see it as something beautiful or cool or a moment to capture while also trying to maintain some anonymity for the person.  So in getting back the photographs of recent trips and feeling like, "okay, I've got some common themes here," I decided on doing View From a Broad and knew that I wanted to work with you because of your wide knowledge and experience of zines, of photography, you've been such a teacher for myself in general with film photography. So I definitely trust you in the process and  it was a well placed trust because the zine is fucking awesome. 

P: Thank you so much for that trust. It means a lot to me. That's something I really like about your work. I think in a lot of the movement in street photography, or at least  what I've been observing has been that the street photography is very focused on the idea of hunting these extraordinary moments that are, that feel so fun, like fantastic, which is not in most cases the way that most people experience life

That's something I like about your work is that it's very experiential, and focused on things that, like you said, feel ordinary but are still very beautiful.

K: It's a theme that I have experienced through my work with film in general.  I think that's part of what drew me to it initially and still draws me back to it is that you're capturing small moments of the day.

So while these photos are all from trips that I've taken abroad or states away, some of my favorite photos I've ever taken are of in my apartment or my neighborhood or, you know, a family dinner or something like that where your eye wouldn't necessarily be drawn to something or have it pop out as like, oh, this is amazing or fantastical, like, I want to capture that moment.

But it's like the beauty in the small things, I guess, is what I try and find in those shots. And it's tricky because it's such an expensive hobby and your frames are finite and they're expensive. So for me to find, like, the small little moments is really important to me and my work, it's worth it for me.

P: I want to zoom out a little bit and ask about your journey with photography,  and film in general. 

K: So I started with digital and borrowed a camera of a family friend and took it on a trip, I think to Seattle actually, and enjoyed it, capturing the moments and the experiences and, that was probably around 2014 or 2015. And then,  2017 is when I started shooting film and I started on the camera that I grew up having my pictures taken with by my dad or my mom. it's a KS Super II. It's a black camera and it's pretty much an automatic settings  camera, and it was at my dad's house on a shelf, just kind of on display. Like he hadn't used it in ages, but he never got rid of it, thankfully. So I started with that, and had some good luck in my first couple rolls like they actually turned out, and I got some of still my favorite shots, I think, because they were the very first ones, and really fell in love with it. 

I would have a film camera on me at all times, once again to capture those small moments that maybe I hadn't paid attention to before, and then I bought my first camera, an Olympus OM-10 from Photosource. I loved that camera, and then kind of built out from there. So now, you know, like many photographers, I have more equipment than I probably need,  but I get very attached, you know, to certain ones and experiences and holding onto them.

 In January of this year (2023), I was gifted a Roleiflex, a medium format and the year before my friend Trev let me borrow his medium format, it was a Yashica. I love trying  a new style,  you know, very different than 35mm for me. I think that's part of  the wonder of film and creativity in general is you can find new styles, new ways of doing something, making small adjustments so it stays fresh and, and challenging, you know?

So, that was my progression, you know, from the 35mm that my dad used to take pictures of us on to medium format, and then most recently to super eight film, which has been really, really wonderful.          

P: Any final thoughts about the process, the show? 

K: I'm just excited to really share this with people.  I've had, you know, really wonderful feedback already from family and friends that I've been able to share it with.  It's exciting to share that with Sacramento, with everyone to be able to say, like, here's my work and here are things that I'm really proud of.