We were lucky to catch up with Keeley Kennahan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Keeley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

It’s a bit of a lengthy backstory, but here goes my best attempt at sharing it somewhat succinctly.

In 2011, I experienced a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to safari in Africa with my grandfather (affectionately known as “Papa”). Papa is my closest family member, my greatest supporter, and the human who inspired my life-long passion for photography and travel- a massive influence in my life.

Papa and I began our adventure in South Africa but by the time we embarked on safari with our tour group in Tanzania, I was only beginning to recover after suffering from a terrifying bout of neurological illness brought on by my anti-malarial medication (known as Lariam/mefloquine- if you look it up, it’s a global horror story all its own). My symptoms legitimately made me fear I was suffering from an actual onset of schizophrenia until I stopped taking that med. It was truly a living nightmare I was only able to wake from once we consulted a Duka la dawa (pharmacy in Swahili). The timing of it all threatened our entire trip, but I ended up incredibly fortunate receiving help when I did.

Recovering while traveling, I felt remarkably fragile and overwhelmed but I was nevertheless beyond grateful to be there and sought to make the most of every day rather than let it diminish our experience. For our safari, we were all provided with the same tour materials, including a guide book with local tips and helpful pointers including basic words + phrases in Swahili that would prove very useful. Our tour guides were all bilingual and their English was GREAT but their native language was Swahili and I wanted to be a polite guest. Being a fairly recent college grad, I was still slightly sore that despite earning my B.A. In Psychology I graduated just a course shy of a minor in Anthropology.

Despite my lack of that minor, certain core concepts of my studies remained at the forefront of my thinking and helped evolve my philosophy of travel forever moving forward. Above all, I valued cultural relativism. I endeavored every where I went to be as respectful and courteous of native cultures as possible. This Tanzanian tour profoundly deepened those feelings.

I read the guidebook front to back, and I began referencing it obsessively to try my best to speak Swahili with my guides in order to conversate, crack jokes and share my sight-seeing requests in THEIR language. Our guides seemed appreciative and were kind enough to indulge my many inquiries. It was fun, exciting, and educational for me, but became frustrating and maddening for a few of the other guests who didn’t bother to read the guidebook and realized I was influencing what our group did with utterances they didn’t comprehend. This eventually became so upsetting for one particular passenger (a breathing illustration of the “ugly american” in motion) that she shouted “STOP OUR VEHICLE! Why are we moving?! What are you saying to them?! Why do they keep listening to you?!” It was a bizarre but necessary exchange when I kindly explained to her that I was merely utilizing the very same resources she had in her pocket all along. A respect for others and their culture in addition to the willingness to learn and try a new language was the only difference between us but it ended up playing a monumental influence in my life.

There’s a lot to it, but following a mix up over yellow-fever documentation at the airport for my homebound flight along with security attempting to detain me, I was genuinely lucky to make it home alive AND sane. When I landed in the states and was picked up at the airport by my father, I began recounting the adventure in all its extreme ups and downs, interspersing my story with plenty of new East African phrases and vocab. This swiftly prompted my Dad to forever dub me, “Swahili-Keeley”. Coupled with my photos from the trip, the nickname stuck. Eventually, I realized it encapsulates my travel ethos.

After the wild journey, and thousands of memorable photos as a special souvenir, I knew then that documenting life’s adventures was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I didn’t know the how, but it was then I found my Why.

When I finally got tired of exclusively working for others and decided in 2018 to set forth on my biz journey and officially incorporate, I knew “Swahili-Keeley Photograpy” was it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Keeley and since my earliest memories, photography has always been a creative form of therapy for me. Funny enough, I earned my B.A. In Psychology and considered pursuing a career as a therapist. After getting to use my degree and working in social work for several years, following a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Africa and a series of unfortunate events, I realized I wasn’t living in alignment with my passion(s). It was on that once-in-a-lifetime African adventure in 2011 that I realized my true passion for photography, but sadly, I was still haunted by imposter syndrome for several years after. Despite falling back on my experience since my teens in the hospitality industry, I was always shooting and experimenting continuously in my free time for fun + growth. I did a ton of TFP and collaborative work early on in addition to working as a 2nd shooter and booking a few small weddings through friends/family/and word-of-mouth. In April 2018, fed up with working exclusively for others in hospitality, I finally decided to take a leap and formed my official business as Swahili-Keeley Photography LLC . I had NO background in business, had never taken a formal course in photography before, but I knew I was passionate and had to start somewhere vs doubting myself eternally.

I consider myself not just a photographer, but a visual story teller, empowering presence, and a guide for creative hearts and souls in love. After many of my own travel experiences and adventures, I’ve realized every human’s story entails a journey (or many). I’m still young and already I’ve enjoyed quite my share, but I return to the same core teaching. Through the lessons of the lens, I’ve learned that life’s ultimate adventure is LOVE, and that’s what I’m here to celebrate. The magic of being human.

I specialize in portrait photography for inspired individuals + entrepreneurs, couples, and families in addition to documenting engagements, weddings and all celebrations of LOVE in its many forms (including maternity, birth + boudoir).

I think one of my strongest qualities and something distinct that sets me apart from others is my adaptive and resilient nature; it helps contribute to my approach being highly flexible and spontaneous as I live for the chance to capture unguarded human connection in the moment. This also seems to help clients feel more at ease and comfortable when we work together. I’m always ready to get creative and try new things as I realize that leaning into the mystery is often where the magic happens. This helps to cultivate a safe container and a no pressure atmopshere overall. I’m proud that I’ve learned over the years how to gently honor the preferences and needs of others while also consistently pushing myself out of my comfort zone by trying new things (like taking up film photography in 2020).

I’m passionate about seeing human beings (and animals too!) thrive and enjoy life through moments of flow and love. I live to see what lights other up inside and gives their existence meaning. It is often through this perspective where I think the essence and magic of humanity truly gets to shine through as it is truly a gift to see yourself through the eyes of another who recognizes the light + the beauty in you. I love to be that mirror for others because I know it can be life altering to see ourselves reflected through art. I want to reach and find more clients who want to feel seen and I want them to know i’m here to joyfully capture their unique story through my lens.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Getting to choose what you want to document depending on the season of your life. For instance, if you’re traveling through a majestic national park or going through a difficult period of change or grief, being able to memorialize that through your own personal timestamp of imagery is remarkable and something special to look back on for ages to come. I definitely appreciate the chance to showcase the amazing places i’ve traveled and wildlife + landscapes I’ve witnessed in this way. Overall, I’ve found my sweet spot business wise is being able to photograph humans in LOVE- with their own bodies, journeys + beings, with the one they can’t imagine their life without, with their children + families, or performing the passions that make them feel alive. Every moment of those forms of love is layered with feeling and the ability to capture that genuinely moves me.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Never giving up-no matter what. No matter how cheesy or redundant that sounds. It’s said again and again, because it’s true. Reminding myself constantly that I’m in this for the long ride/the rest of my life. remembering my why and the feelings that feed my passion every time I shoot is definitely a potent form of artistic fuel. Photography has been my favorite, most consistent means of creative exploration through life and I view it now as a sacred way of processing my life’s experiences and the incredible humans i’ve met along the way that fascinate, teach and inspire me. It’s powerful to see over the past decade how images can retain so much feeling and serve as such a strong means of revitalizing and preserving our memories. A timless photograph can literally create a visual inheritance for generations to come- and in a fast-paced world so transient and often overwhelming- I see this as a beautiful means to freeze precious moments of time and the special in-betweens. THAT is an incessantly significant driving force behind why I love to do this.

Contact Info:

• Website: In progress! Visit my IG to stay tuned and find out more about when it will be LIVE :)
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swahilikeeleyphotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SwahiliKeeleyPhotography

Image Credits
All images are taken by Swahili-Keeley Photography LLC.