The glamorous world of fine art photographer Tony Kelly.
Hello Hello,
Today, I want to touch on the importance of world-building in the fine art photography space.
There is a magic like no other when, with just a glimpse of a piece, you can tell who produced the visuals - to me, that is the case with Irish fine art photographer, director, creative consultant and author Tony Kelly.
Starting his career at a Dublin newspaper and covering international conflicts, he was daring and had an eye for a legendary shot. In 1996, he captured Bono and Liam Gallagher sharing a kiss, and at 20 years old, this would skyrocket him into the world of celebrities and high fashion.
His pieces portray campy slice-of-life scenery of the high society -
Think of the bluest blue skies, shocking red bottoms and convertibles, gorgeous people being outrageous on the coast of Positano. All imagery dripping with irony, opulence and glamour.
His biggest inspirations come from ads produced in the 60s and 70s. Further proof that glam remains timeless.
What I take away from Tony Kelly’s body of work is that images are very powerful storytelling tools.
Do not let people try to convince you that glamour has to be vapid and empty - totally on the contrary! It can be theatrical, funny, campy, ironic, and clever! The fine art images produced by Tony Kelly really bring us into his fantastical world where beautiful people drink exclusively Chanel #5 and Don Perignon, and stilettos are the only form of footwear.
The backdrop is always as gorgeous as the subject itself. Beauty-ception, if you must.
As a photographer who adores glam, I greatly admire Tony Kelly’s journey and body of work. He continues to produce spectacular image after spectacular image year after year.
It inspires me to push the boundaries of composition in my own photography journey and to build my visual world with every image - it makes you think, “If someone saw one of my photos in the wild… could they tell that it is me? Do I have a signature look? Is this part of my creative universe?” Everything needs to be intentional, from the colour to the subject, the fashion, the location - it is all a puzzle piece of the vision itself.
I also invite you to follow him on Instagram here.
Thank you for reading,
xoxo
Mars
