MY RECENT DESIGNS

I went to the OC Fair for the

first time with a couple good

friends of mine. We took some

shots in the vintage photo booth

and I decided to come up

with some vintage inspired

designs for them.

Enjoy!

My friend Chad & I went out

to 29 Palms to go shooting.

It was my first time ever

shooting a gun.

I absolutely loved it!

This is some inspiration I have
in my head for a shoot tomorrow night.
I'm having some friends come over
to shoot a project that I'm doing
on social interaction & narrative.

Choices Program, Arizona.

A few weeks ago I made my way out to Arizona for my spring break from school. While I was there I took some time to visit my Mom, and to speak at a choices program for young middle school girls. My point of speaking at this program for girls was to talk to them about the truth behind the beauty & fashion industries. We went over how everything from behind the scenes work, to how post production and photoshop works. I spoke to them about body image, inner beauty and the importance of real life positive role models. It's something that is very important for young women to understand that these models that they see in magazines don't roll out of bed looking like this in the morning. It takes teams of people to look like that, and that they are indeed imperfect people too, just like the rest of us.

I really tried to get these girls to speak their minds and interact with me. I had such an amazing and positive reaction! At one point I almost cried when a young girl with Autism spoke up and said that I was one of her role models. She then repeated things that I had said during my 30 minute speech (which I was SO nervous to do) that I had done prior to our workshop together. She went on to say how true she felt everything I said was, and how she admired the honesty. I was so amazed that she had been paying attention, and really wanted to not just listen to me, but truly understand.

I almost completely lost it again... when another young lady came up to me and said, "you know, when I talk to certain people, sometimes certain songs pop up in my head, and when I talk to you the song 'You're Beautiful Just The Way You Are' comes to mind." Trying to hold it together after that, my face hurt from smiling so HARD. All day the girls would individually approach me, wanting to show me their drawings, poetry, photography, and art. I was so blown away, and I made a serious point to tell each one individually how important it was to keep doing this, not just because they were wonderful at it, but because I could see that they loved it so much.

Before this program, I was anxious, and fidgety, hoping for weeks that this would go well. I put so much pressure on myself, because I wanted them to really grasp what I was saying. It's funny how nervous I was to speak in front of a large group of 12 year old girls, but I think that was mostly excitement. It's really hard for me to speak in front of people in general, especially for a 30 minute speech, plus 5 workshops. But I felt like this was the best opportunity to let my guard down, so that others would hopefully benefit from something that I had to say. And I think they definitely did. These girls were so smart, and well grounded. The response was so overwhelmingly positive, my chest and my face hurt with happiness for the rest of the day. That may sound a little silly, but I guess I don't take those sort of things lightly.

It was truly a remarkable experience. I wouldn't change it for a spring break in Cabo any day.

You can’t beat death but you can beat death in life

She calls me, "Kitty"
& I call her, "Whiskey."

This is Jennifer Young, my room mate & long time friend. She signifies the most real & honest friendship I've ever shared with another human being. We can be laughing + yelling at each other simultaneously. After a decade of friendship, and over a year of living together, we will still miss each other if a couple days pass without us making some kind of connection. I swear to her all the time that she is the funniest person that I have ever known. And she loves how hard I laugh at all of her weird jokes and funny facial expressions. We feel like complete misfits in the world at times, and I think that's where our connection is mainly rooted.

Shot in 400tx professional black & white film

(Click photos to enlarge)

NEW//BUSINESS CARD//LOGO.DESIGN

Switching things up.

I decided to take a little break from my
regular night shooting ways.
It's not that I'm done with night shooting,
I just wanted to switch things up a little bit.

You see,
there's this commercial that Sofia Coppola
directed for Dior a few years back,
and it has been absolutely torturing me!
...Not meaning to sound the least bit dramatic,
but truly, her genius use of light is that powerful.

Anyway,
this is just a couple pages that I chose to share with you
from a spring editorial spread that I shot
with this gorgeous red head, Remington.
a.k.a. "Remi"

Model: Remington Nelson
Shot, Styled & Directed by: Me.
Make up by: Lisa G Artistry.
Location: Balboa Park San Diego.
Kodak Professional Portra 400 NC Film

Photographed & Styled by me

Here's a sneak-peak photo

from my shoot today with the

gorgeous red head, Remington!

My Disposition.

My extreme selective nature

probably inhibits me in many ways.

But it teaches me

mindfulness & patience,

which I rather have more than anything else.

Head Shots

My friend Kayla

is going off to New York

at the end of the month

to do some work with Broadway.

She asked me to do her head shots.

isn't she purdy?

Catching up:

Busy, busy, busy...

I apologize that it's been so long since I posted last!

I have been the busiest I think I have ever been.

I have full time art school,

graphic design & photography projects.

I work 2 jobs on the weekends (double shifts).

And somehow I'm managing to put together

2 editorial shoots that I'm shooting,

styling and directing

on the same day next week.

(I'm very excited about this next shoot)

Here's a sneak peak of some of the looks

I have pulled for one of the editorial shoots

that I'm shooting:

The inspiration for one of the shoots is based off of

this Dior commercial that I have had stuck in my head for YEARS.

On top of all that,

for my spring break vacation from school

I have been asked to be the headliner

for a Choices Program in Arizona

to teach young middle school girls about

body image and how the beauty industry

is able to use photoshop to

manipulate images and consumers minds.

I'm also going to touch base on confidence and

how important it is to have

dreams/passions/goals to work towards.

I'm excited to share with these girls,

because I know how hard it is to be their age.

I used to be SO shy, quiet & awkward.

(Still am a little bit)

But when I was in middle school,

I didn't know what I liked, who I wanted to be,

or what I wanted to do.

I remember being very depressed.

For many reasons,

middle school was the worst time of my life.

It baffles my mind how I went from

who I was then to who I am now.

Of course, my dreams may not be their dreams,

but just the fact of having dreams can

really take your life in a different direction.

I hope I don't come across too cheesy with the

whole dreams spiel. And I certainly don't think

that I've "made it" yet. But, maybe it's more intriguing

to witness someone in the process of achieving

their dreams than someone who already has.

Gosh, this photo of me looks so strange to my eyes.

It's interesting how certain harsh lighting can

really configure the face in strange ways,

but that's the beauty of light.

It still amazes me how effortlessly

light can just mold a face like play-do.

Besides the regular photos with friends deal,

there's a lot of dreaded emotion

that I have about being in front of the camera,

& allowing someone else to direct me.

Sure, I'll do it.

But to me, it's all about control.

Photographers are natural born observers,

but when they are the ones under observation

it's the most uncomfortable feeling inside.

No matter how hard you try to cover it up

& play it cool for the camera,

it just doesn't feel right.

I will always prefer to be

the one behind the scenes,

observing, directing and in control.

A tid bit of why.

When I first started out in photography my work was very bright, loud, and colorful. I liked to over do it with the sun glares, over saturation, and pink tutus. It’s funny when you go for something, and you think it fits you perfectly, but then one day something happens and it changes your outlook completely. Well, for me that day was about 2 years ago, when I got into a traumatic car accident, and found myself in a state of shock and head trauma. I don’t like to talk about the accident very much, but I did notice that after that traumatic experience something in my head clicked and completely changed my artistic vision. I then threw away all of my old work, and decided to start a completely new portfolio. 6 months later I found myself in Paris, France shooting on location Helmut Newton inspired photo shoots, shooting the runways of Haute Couture fashion shows, and the gowns in the studio. Ever since then I feel like my work keeps getting darker and darker, to the point where I don’t even want to see the models face, but just the outline. Shadowy figures intrigue me, because I think when you can see everything all upfront, it’s not as interesting. There’s a deeper meaning to my work, most people might not understand it, but I know what it means to me, because it’s all in my head before I even shoot it. But doesn’t every one have shadowy faceless people creeping around in their head all the time?

The Beauty of Light

The light today was rainy & dreary,
but it seemed as though it was weeping
through the windowsill.

This is me dancing.

NOIR

These are some of my most recent night shots.

I think my favorite part about night shooting

is just finding the available light.

I like the way night shooting

makes the wheels in my head turn.

I like figuring out what aperture & shutter

would be best for each individual low lit situation.

All of these photos were shot in 400 TX film,

& were developed

& printed in the dark room.

^ This one was shot with a shattered lens

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

© Kelly Robyn Mann

Creepy Bunny

12/9

The other night my friends and I goofed

around and did a night shoot.

I had my friend Caitlin get into a giant bunny suit,

because I think creepy = funny.

We finished shooting around 3:00 am.

I'm so glad my friends are zombies like me,

never sleep.

Oh yeah,

sorry if the movie Donnie Darko creeped you out...