The April 2024 edition of our sister publication South Sound Business is the Women Who Lead issue. The fourth feature is below; read the previous one here. 

Angela Kelly, founder of Kelly Design and Photography, loves to help companies shine. As a business owner and true artistic polymath, she now enjoys the freedom to choose her hours, workplace, and projects — but developing that flexibility took time.

In 2018, Kelly was working in a print shop, a restaurant, and as a freelance graphic designer. She knew she wanted a career in design and photography but didn’t know how to break into the industry or find a full-time position.

That all changed when Kelly landed her first major freelance project with Rainier Valley Hemp Co. She developed assets for the business that included a promotional video, photo shoot, packaging design, and Pacific Northwest-inspired branded merch. The project put her on the map.

“When that came my way, I began thinking that I should start taking this more seriously,” she told South Sound Business.

After the positive reception to her work with Rainier Valley Hemp, Kelly decided to take a leap of faith. Knowing she’d need to dedicate more time to the launch of her business, she left her other two jobs, and with them, the security of a consistent paycheck.

“Starting your own business can feel like a risky roller coaster,” Kelly said. “When you cut off other dependable sources of income, you have to tackle obstacles as they arise and stay flexible.”

Despite the financial uncertainty inherent in entrepreneurship, Kelly remained steadfast in her dream of owning a company. In early 2019, she finally received her business license for Kelly Design and Photography.

Since then, she has helped multiple Olympia-based, women-owned businesses increase sales and develop their brand. Notable clients include the Fog & Fern Coffee House; Artväna, an acrylic painting club for adults; and Sucreabeille, an organic perfumery. She also has worked as an outside consultant with the city of Olympia’s marketing team.

Kelly’s future endeavors include growing her client base and expanding into a brick-and-mortar studio.

“I want to build a team of five to 10 other social-media experts, photographers, videographers, and graphic designers, and create an environment where they can pursue their professional goals and continue developing their craft,” she said.

Kelly believes that curiosity and a “better together” mindset are essential to producing high-quality, impactful assets.

“In school, you have this social aspect to learning. You’re surrounded by peers and can bounce ideas off each other,” she said. “I want to bring that collaboration into the professional space and develop opportunities to keep (my team) at the top of their game.”

For young entrepreneurs, Kelly encourages staying true to oneself. “When you’re starting out, focus on the things that make you uniquely you rather than transforming into your mind’s version of a ‘business owner,’” she said. “Don’t be afraid to let your weird show.”

Q&A 

What did you want to be when you were a kid?

A pilot. At 17, I even managed to take one solo flight from Olympia to Kelso.

How do you unplug?

Quality time with friends

What book are you reading?

I’m almost through a book of old Japanese folk tales. I enjoy fiction that teaches me something about culture, art, or history.

What/who motivates you?

I’m really motivated by “the grand reveal.” That moment of unveiling the logo, packaging design, or image I’ve been laboring over, and seeing my client’s reaction (not to brag, but I’ve pulled a happy tear or two).

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In photographer Chelsea Reeves’ art gallery, a white basketball enshrined in a clear display case symbolized the popular saying, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” White floral garlands embellished the artwork’s platform. With this piece, Reeves hopes to inspire people to give themselves their own flowers.

“There are many people who say they aspire to do something, there are few people who actually do it. I wanted to show the importance of creating our own opportunities for ourselves and not waiting for it to happen to us,” Reeves said to the crowd at the gallery.

On Sunday, Reeves organized and hosted her second art gallery, “Now It’s My Turn Part II,” in Syracuse University’s Shaffer Art Building. Over 80 Syracuse community members visited her gallery highlighting SU’s basketball teams, her time at CultureCon, her time spent in New York City and Syracuse events including this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration and Pheelz and Leon Thomas III’s performance in Goldstein Auditorium.

“I loved how the gallery brought students from different walks of campus together under the common interest in photography. The audience was super engaged and clearly admired the variation in the art selection,” said Adam Baltaxe, one of the gallery’s organizers.

Last year in Shaffer, Reeves hosted her first gallery, “Now It’s My Turn,” which featured images of student models and different campus events. SU alumna and artist Adore Ellis, known for her work at Levi Strauss & Co., spray-painted shirts that were distributed to attendees.

This year, with the hopes of bringing the Syracuse community together to engage in philanthropy, Reeves partnered with Save A Child’s Heart (SACH) foundation, a new organization on SU’s campus. SACH has provided life-saving treatment to more than 6,600 children worldwide, particularly from regions like the Palestinian Authority, Gaza, Iraq, Morocco and Africa.

“The highlight of my experience was the incredible support from the Black community,” said SACH founder Ryann Washington. “It was amazing to see everyone come together to support (Reeves) and contribute to a great cause.”

Washington is a junior majoring in biology and forensic science. After spending time with children and witnessing SACH’s life-changing work during a visit to the organization’s base in Tel Aviv, Israel, Washington said she and a group of friends wanted to raise awareness and funds when they returned to campus.

Gallery attendees placed bids starting at $15 for some of Reeves’ work up for auction. Fifteen percent of all proceeds will be donated to SACH. Senior and fellow organizer Maram Ahmed said the gallery was much bigger than she expected. She said the highlight of her experience was pulling back the tape to reveal the finished look of the gallery sign and seeing everyone show love to her work.

“Getting to see the variety of images that Reeves captured, she has a special way of seeing the world and I felt that through her work,” senior Sonia Issa said.

Disclaimer: Chelsea Reeves is a contributing photographer for The Daily Orange. She did not influence the editorial content of this story.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve chastised myself for failing to stop when a photo opportunity presents itself while driving. I’m trying to get better about that and here’s an example where I pulled over for a sunset photo… and glad I did.

Driving

Looking in the rear view mirror I see a blast of color with magnificent clouds. Bummer! As I’m traveling at 75 MPH. Guess I’m going to miss it. Wait a minute! There’s a pull off, and I’m going to take it! Even though the peak of color has passed it’s OK. People wouldn’t believe the what I just saw anyway! Color is still soft and magical and the view ain’t half bad. Grab the camera from the trunk and get to work.

The clouds are nicely layered with multiple colors. In the foreground I am blessed with trees in silhouette against the blue mountains. Having a relatively long lens also allowed to isolate a single tree with a great shape above the line. Aha! A subject to with which to work in front of the pastel colored sky. That’ll work!

Work the composition

Once you’ve discovered a scene it’s time to get the most from the moment. The cloud color fades pretty quick so there is a need to work quickly. When you find a decent subject make sure you try different compositions. Horizontal, vertical and panorama are all possibilities. I choose to share a horizontal and vertical composition with you in this article. One note. Try to keep the horizon level when making landscape images. If your camera has one activate the level to save yourself time in post production.

Exposure

When photographing sunsets in order to get deep rich and vibrant color there is a need to underexpose. When you underexpose and you are working a silhouette subject it can block up all the detail. I prefer to overexpose the scene just a bit and bring the sky exposure down in post production. When working this way there are a lot more options for the final look of the image. If you crush your blacks on capture when you try to pull detail out of the shadows you end up with noise galore. You can always take an image that has been exposed to the right and deepen your shadows for best results. Learn more about ETTR technique here. And, here.

I’ll need to stay on this kick of stopping when a photo event reveals itself. Then, I can stop chastising myself for missing them. Back behind the wheel and I can’t wait to get home to process this find!

Yours in Creative Photography,

Bob

In Belfast’s Market community, a photography project is using the power of art to address the deep-rooted issues of trauma, mental health, and substance abuse.

A People’s Tapestry, a joint effort between Queen’s Communities and Place (QCAP), Market Development Association (MDA), and residents, has culminated in an exhibition highlighting the community’s resilience and determination.

Lucy Flynn (17), one of the young participants, spoke about the emotional impact of the sessions: “It was just building up week by week. And building your confidence slowly but surely. And at the very end, we just had so much trust in each other. Yeah. It just grew everyone’s confidence.”

She added: “I just think that it’s good that we’ve started, that all the people in the Market are starting to go to these groups. And that you’re starting to raise more of an awareness that these groups are happening. And they’re a positive thing for the Market. Instead of it being scary that we’re going to be talking about all these bad things. And that can seem daunting to some people.”

Another participant Molly O’Reilly, shared the story behind her chosen photographs: “I had picked a photo of my uncle, two brothers. me and my sister. Because it just meant so much to me that these are actually the people who got me through so much, helped me and I’ve just spent my whole life with them really.”

She continued: “My other photo was of my mummy, and it was because we had lost her over a year and a half ago. And it was the trauma and the grief that our family has been through after we had lost my mummy. It wasn’t good. It wasn’t nice. And going out with our group and talking about it and actually having people to speak to about the grief that I was feeling. It was heart-warming to be honest.”

The exhibition, featuring interwoven photographs and narratives, chronicles the origins, evolution, and challenges of the Market community.

Participants, ranging from teenagers to adults, attended workshops facilitated by Matt Faris of Funky Buddha Productions, where they shared their experiences through photography, storytelling, and poetry.

Áine Brady, the Community Innovation Practitioner from QCAP and Chairwoman of the MDA, emphasised the significance of the project: “I think art rather than providing a distraction actually allows people to confront their issues, but in a way that’s very safe and is at their own pace and tempo and that’s very much what we’ve seen happening in our group.

“It also allows for voices that normally wouldn’t be heard to be elevated. For example you would very rarely hear working class voices in arts buildings and theatre spaces and exhibition spaces.”

“The voices of Market residents are central here for the next couple of weeks via this exhibition so I think art has really allowed to elevate our people’s voices.”

The project is part of a wider initiative to address the growing substance use problem in the area.

Queen’s University Belfast is one of five UK universities awarded the Community Innovation Practitioner pilot, supporting collaboration between academia and local communities to tackle shared challenges.

Dr Karen McGuigan, QCAP’s Community Health and Wellbeing Lead, highlighted the importance of arts-based methods in facilitating conversations that traditional scientific methods may not: “We’ve been very clear in terms of the use of the arts-based methods and what they can bring to communities and how that opens conversations that maybe traditional scientific methods don’t.

“In this there’s a framework there from which everything has developed and I think us being able to reflect the creative aspects within that has been really important.”

“There’s a good bit of learning not just for communities and that can be shared but also for academic audiences and policymakers beyond that as well.”

Today, the Prince and Princess of Wales shared a new photograph of Prince Louis for his sixth birthday. It shows the young royal smiling, in a blue and yellow chequered shirt, while lying outside on a blanket. The photograph was taken in Berkshire, near the family’s home of Adelaide Cottage, this month. “Happy 6th Birthday, Prince Louis!” reads the caption. “Thank you for all the kind wishes today.”

The photo comes, of course, in the wake of the recent hysteria around the family’s Mother’s Day snap, which received a kill notice from AP Images. “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” the Princess subsequently said in a statement. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion… I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day.”

While the Waleses have consistently released photographs of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis on their birthdays over the last few years, there was debate about whether Kensington Palace would issue an official picture of Louis this spring. In March, Kate announced she was undergoing preventative treatment for cancer. In an emotional video, she discussed taking time away from the spotlight to heal and spend time with her three young children as they grapple with her diagnosis.

Above all, she asked for privacy, meaning it would have been more than understandable if she declined to take a portrait this year. Yet, despite it all, it seems that the Waleses have decided to keep up the status quo as much as possible.

Official opening of the Yacht Racing Image Award 2024

by Yacht Racing Image Award 23 Apr 05:15 PDT
20 November 2024

The 15th edition of the international photography competition dedicated to the sport of sailing will once again reassemble the world’s best marine photographers from all over the world.

The prize-giving will take place during the Yacht Racing Forum, held in Amsterdam alongside METSTRADE, where the best images will be exhibited, on November 20.

Initiated in 2010, the international photo competition dedicated to competitive sailing is proud to launch its 15th edition. Professional photographers from all over the world are invited to submit their best image, taken between October 14, 2023 and October 13, 2024.

“A new era is beginning for the Yacht Racing Image award,” explains Bernard Schopfer, organiser of the competition. “After 15 years of loyal support, Mirabaud is giving way to a new lead partner, whom we are actively seeking. The format of the event is not affected by this change and we are proud to be organising this competition, much appreciated throughout the world, with the same passion and enthusiasm for the fifteenth year running.”

The 80 best images selected by the international jury will be published on the event website on October 17, allowing the public to vote for the Public Award. The top 20 images will be exhibited in hall 13, the central hub for METSTRADE visitors at the show floor, allowing visitors to vote for the Delegates Award.

Niels Klarenbeek, Show Director METSTRADE, said: “The METSTRADE team is honored to support the celebration of excellence in sailing photography. We eagerly anticipate showcasing the top 20 images to our audience and paying tribute to the remarkable talent behind each photograph.”

The prize-giving will take place during the Yacht Racing Forum, alongside METSTRADE, on November 20 in front of members of the international marine industry and yacht racing photographers from all over the world.

Detailed rules here.

An artist from the Wood River Valley is re-envisioning iconic skiing photographs as a way to challenge stereotypes in winter sports.

The project, “A New Winter,” by Sofía Jaramillo, is a work-in-progress, it involves recreating old-time photos with models wearing historically accurate clothing and gear. Many of the photoshoots have taken place in Sun Valley during the past two winters.

Jaramillo, a Colombian-American filmmaker and a National Geographic photographer, will speak about her project at the Community Library in Ketchum on April 23 at 5:30 p.m. The talk will also be available via livestream. The Sun Valley Museum of Art will be exhibiting the work from Jan.-March 2025.

Rachel Cohen spoke with Jaramillo about “A New Winter.” This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

On growing up in Sun Valley 

I was really lucky to grow up skiing all around Idaho because my parents lived in different places, but I learned to ski [in Sun Valley] first. As a young Latina, I didn’t see many other Latinos on the slopes or represented in outdoor media. So that has greatly influenced this project, but all of the work that I do. I really try to create the work that I wished I’d seen as a kid.

On the goal of the project

In this project, I’m recreating iconic ski images from the beginning of skiing, except centering folks of color as a way of inviting conversation about who we see on the slopes today.

Sun Valley is the location of the first ski resort destination in the US, the first ski lift in the US. So, consequently, the images that came out of here were some of the first ski images that went out to the U.S. and said, this is what skiing is going to be, this is what you’re going to get. A lot of those images centered a Eurocentric idea of skiing that was centered around whiteness, luxury, exclusivity. So the project is really about reimagining those photos as a way of reimagining history.

Working with historic photographs and props 

Many of the images from that era, they’re really beautiful. I’m fascinated with the historic photos. They depict people in pleasure and joy, like laying in the snow, sipping on cocktails or having a charcuterie board. And I thought it would be really powerful to not only show folks of color in those scenarios, but also because there aren’t that many images from the early 1930s at all of people of color enjoying themselves and expressing joy.

There’s a few challenges. I can think of an image from last year. It’s this really classic image of a woman in her bikini laying in front of Baldy. My friend Vanessa Chavarriaga was the model for that, and it was a negative degree wind chill that day, like -10 degrees. And she was in a swimsuit. In between shots, we were running up to her and covering her in sleeping bags and puffy coats just so we could get the shot. We had like ten minutes to do it.

Another factor with shooting outside is that we’re working with the [Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History] here. They lend us clothing and ski gear from the era that can’t touch the snow, it can’t get wet, it can’t get damaged at all. So we have to lay down plastic and be really careful about what is touching the snow and we can’t shoot if it’s raining or snowing.

The power of photographs 

In 2019, I was walking through the Sun Valley Lodge, and the Sun Valley Lodge has this hallway full of iconic ski photos, all from the beginning of skiing. There’s probably a hundred or more images there. And it really struck me that out of all of those images, only one of the images included a person of color, and that was Louis Armstrong. That’s what got me thinking; that’s where the idea started for this project.

And I thought, hmm, I wonder if there were people of color at the beginning of skiing. So I went to the Sun Valley Library, and I sat with an archivist for almost a full day, and I looked through all the old scans and out of thousands of images here, but also in other archives across the West, I could only find a couple images of folks of color.

Those images are still all over mountain towns everywhere, and they still have this message that bleeds into the culture we see today. This is what I’d like to encourage conversation around. How does photography inform and influence who belongs and how does it perpetuate stereotypes? With this project, we’re really trying to break down those stereotypes.

Representation can be so powerful because seeing is believing. And when folks of color see these images, they might feel more included in the sports.

Find reporter Rachel Cohen on Twitter @racheld_cohen

Copyright 2024 Boise State Public Radio

More than a year has passed since the two quakes of magnitude 6.4 and 5.8 that struck Turkey’s Hatay province. The spotlight has now died down but citizens continue to struggle for survival in inhumane conditions that strain their dignity. There is one photographer, Italian and very young, Giuseppe Scianna, class of ’99, who has decided to document the current situation to once again highlight the conditions of these people. Scianna is a photojournalist based in Sicily, and at the center of his work are often the most difficult social issues. From environmental pollution to life in the suburbs, Scianna has also worked with various NGOs and received the Sony World Photography Awards 2022. But let’s find out more about this project titled Limited Residency.

«These regions – those of Turkey affected by the earthquake – are inhabited by about four million people, displaced in the various municipalities and other parts of the country, who often live in makeshift settlements lacking any kind of health care,» explains Giuseppe Scianna who chose this area of Turkey – specifically the city of Hatay – to carry out his recent photographic project Limited Residence. «About 70 percent of the injured people have some form of disability,» Scianna continues, «as they do not have access to sanitation, they live in inadequate facilities, and their dignity and right to health are put at risk by the authorities and humanitarian aid.»

Testimony and empathy

What Giuseppe Scianna shows us in his shots is a Turkey still in pieces. His gaze is always gentle, still as a photojournalist but with an empathy that emerges. Women, children, men-everyone, no one excluded-are the protagonists of this misfortune and of his shots, which highlight on the one hand the strength and adaptability of human beings, and on the other hand the injustice and disregard of the authorities for a situation that goes against basic human rights. Giuseppe’s speech is touching, so we want to report it in full, hoping it will help bring attention to the problem.

People are psychologically broken in a precarious government situation. Monthly aid from the state does not guarantee a meal a day, also blamed on the drastically increased inflation of the Turkish lira. People continue uninterruptedly to salvage what is left of their homes, there is no more day and night due to the endless work of house demolition that amounts to about 300 thousand structures. There are endless expanses of debris fed by thousands of trucks that form veritable mountains of pulped houses. Many children have been traumatized by all this, many schools have collapsed and have been replaced by tents with many recreations because of the heat they give off. The government has sent the military engineer to inspect all structures that have apparently remained standing, but the tendency has been to underestimate the damage, this probably to reduce economic exposure regarding housing reconstruction grants. While everything is proceeding into an uncertain future, the people are responding with a great strength of humanity and sharing.

Giuseppe Scianna

Ph credits and copyright Giuseppe Scianna