bio

Kelly McKay was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Southern California and Iowa. She received her first camera at age eight and her first SLR at fourteen, and started printing black and white a year later. She is semi-self taught, having printed and shot for more than five years before taking a photography class. She graduated in 2002 from the University of Iowa with a degree in Comparative Literature and an Art minor (photography and intermedia), and moved to New York, where she currently resides. In 2006 she co-founded Swoon, a local fashion and photography magazine.

artist statement

I see color, texture and geometry, and feeling as the primary subjects of my work. I view the human form in terms of these elements as much as I consider the expressive features of inanimate objects. I am interested in the life of the objects we pass by on a daily basis; the untold history of a door, or of an ancient wall textured by the elements and weathered by layers of paint and time. I often concentrate on the close-up, the flat surface which fills the entire frame, causing the viewer to examine such often unobserved details as a strip of peeling paint, a reflection in a mud puddle, or the color of light falling on someone's face. I do not set up or manipulate my shots, preferring spontaneity and natural light to celebrate and de-familiarize the familiar. In my composite collage pieces, my aim is to convey a specific mood through the repetitive use of color and the arrangement of space. The feeling ranges from bright to dark, from playful and humorous to quietly contemplative.

acknowledgments

Thanks to Gillian Nunns for providing some of the titles for the Iceland images. Special thanks to Rachel Frank for being my muse! Thanks to Karen Olson for building this site!

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©2005-2008 kelly mckay