Meet This Badass Babe: Kelly Maker

Happy thirsty Thursday! 

About to quench my thirst and pop me some Coffee! Morning ragers, huh?

SO, according to social media yesterday, it was National Women's Day. 

Meanwhile, today, TSV gives a warm welcome to up and coming boss babe Kelly Maker. 

Totally fitting, right? 

I first started seeing models and cool kids post these badass edits all over IG. So naturally, I had to investigate. Which led me to this Ausie beaut named Kelly. 

My jaw dropped when I saw all of her work. So original and unique- which nowadays, in this world of social media, is rare. 

Well shit I obviously had to pick her brain!

On that note, let's do this: 

Introduce yourself (btw, hi I'm Madison! It's nice to meet you & I'm so stoked to have you on TSV!)

Hi Madison! I’m Kelly Maker, 21 years old from Melbourne, Australia. I’m a photographer and a digital artist 

How'd you first become a visual artist & photographer? Did you always want to be a VA & photographer?

I started photographing around a year ago but got pretty bored with how generic my shots looked. I was trying to emulate other photographers I’d seen but it just wasn’t me. So on one of my first jobs I decided to print the images and draw on them with sharpie. I got a good response from the client and so decided to explore more sophisticated ways of doing it, eventually developing my own signature styles! It all happened by accident which is the best way for art to be made in my opinion. 

I don’t know if it was always on my radar to be a VA and Photographer, I always knew I wanted to do something creative, working an office job was never going to satisfy me, I just sort of fell into this obsession with film photography and being able to produce something that inspires people and inspires myself!

How'd you first become a visual artist & photographer? Did you always want to be a VA & photographer?

I started photographing around a year ago but got pretty bored with how generic my shots looked. I was trying to emulate other photographers I’d seen but it just wasn’t me. So on one of my first jobs I decided to print the images and draw on them with sharpie. I got a god response from the client and so decided to explore more sophisticated ways of doing it, eventually developing my own signature styles! It all happened by accident which is the best way for art to be made in my opinion. 

I don’t know if it was always on my radar to be a VA and Photographer, I always knew I wanted to do something creative, working an office job was never going to satisfy me, I just sort of fell into this obsession with film photography and being able to produce something that inspires people and inspires myself!

You made a shop out of your work- what has that been like so far?

I sell prints occasionally but my main work comes via commissions, the website is just an easier way for me to display the different options! It’s been interesting being my own boss at such a young age. A huge learning curb but I’m grateful for the experiences and opportunities that come from it. 

What inspires you? Do you have a creative space you like to work best in? Do you have any icons you look up to?

Lately, I have been most inspired by the people I get to work with every week. I’m always trying to find new models, makeup artists, film makers etc to collaborate with me on shoots, and once I meet these people and chat with them, the photos we produce as a team seem to have their own story that I use when editing them. 

I generally work in my room at home, I have a space set up but often I’ll take my computer to the park or sit by the pool, it’s just wherever I feel comfortable. 

I have a long long list of people I look up to. At the moment I am reading a memoir by Grace Coddington and just today received a copy of Brassai, all amazing influences on my creative styles. To pinpoint any one or two people seems unfair as I adore certain icons in different ways!

How do you overcome creative blocks? Being a blogger, I get writers block all the time so any tips?!

Usually when I have a creative block related to my art I’ll know that means I need to refresh and try something new. So I’ll usually spend the week shooting rather than spend it creating art. I find that if I have a good balance in the things I’m producing, and always try to create new experiences for myself that are outside my comfort zone, then I rarely get blocks!

What's your favorite piece of work you've created so far?

Thats definitely a tough one! I’m very self critical so something I love this week I’ll probably hate next week, but at the moment I love the image I shot of the amazing Eileen which I then did some illustrations over!

What can we look forward to from you in the future? 

Lots and lots of things are coming up, some of them I can’t talk about just yet but the main is a potential book and an exhibition in Melbourne at the end of the year

You're book collage work was a huge hit- what went behind the creation of those?

Thank you! I am obsessed with books, to the point that I have a collection of old books picked up in Italy flea markets that I will never be able to read but they just look so beautiful. I scanned one of the pages from these books and honestly I can’t even remember why or what inspired me to do it but I overlaid it on a model who was wearing a body suit that I had edited out. It just looked so cool so I started to do more and more and here we are.