We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kelley Curran a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kelley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One deeply underappreciated facet of being an entrepreneur or creative is the kind of crazy stuff that happens from time to time. It could be anything from a disgruntled client attacking an employee or waking up to find out a celebrity gave you a shoutout on TikTok – the sudden, unexpected hits (both positive and negative) make the profession both exhilarating and exhausting. Can you share one of your craziest stories?

One of my craziest times photographing happened recently in Southaven, MS while shooting for Goo Goo Dolls. There was no rain in the forecast, and this venue was outdoors with no overhead coverage. Suddenly, it started raining cats and dogs. I usually would reschedule a shoot due to rain if I can, but this is a live show for Goo Goo Dolls – if they aren’t stopped by the rain, than neither am I! But, what can I do? I can’t really hold an umbrella and my camera, and I didn’t even have one.

Earlier, I was given a rain poncho “just in case” (again even though there wasn’t rain in the forecast, but I guess other people know better than me!) and instead of wrapping it around myself, I wrapped my camera in this giant plastic poncho, and shot through it. I was so nervous the entire time that I was going to totally ruin my camera, but I ended up taking some really amazing shots!

Eventually the rain died down and I could de-poncho my camera, and everything worked out. I truly felt so lucky to receive the kindness of strangers that know better than I do, and help me achieve my dreams!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Kelley Curran, a freelance photographer originally from Milwaukee, WI and living in Nashville, TN – but I travel all over the world to capture memories! I have over 9 years of experience with my business, specializing in event photography and fine art photography.

During my time in college at Carroll University, I studied fine art photography – and I fell in love. I studied artists like René Magritte and Christopher McKenney, and I felt truly understood by surrealism. I think a lot of people don’t consider photography an art form, and I am glad to prove them wrong. I’ve struggled with depression, ptsd, schizoaffective disorder and sleep paralysis throughout my life, and creating my fine art has helped me overcome a lot of my fears and anxieties, and depict them through photographs. My fine art is dubbed “horror surrealism” and I capture creepy subjects like ghosts and people without heads, which can give you a glimpse into my strange mind.

For many years, I kept my art relatively to myself, until about 5 years ago when I started doing “Spooktober” – a daily post challenge on Instagram for every day in October. This was such an inspiration to me to focus more on creating new art, and that lead me to start having my own art shows. Since then, I’m often part of monthly art markets in Nashville, and I’ve been featured in many galleries and museums throughout the country. I never dreamed I could share my art, and I feel so lucky that so many people resonate with my creations!

When I’m not creating new art, my main job as a freelance photographer is shooting for musicians. I’ve always been a photographer since I was a child, and when I was 19 I shot my first concert in Milwaukee. It was one of the best days of my life, and I thought “people actually make a career from this?” and I was hooked.
In the many crazy wonderful years since then, I’ve shot for some major musical acts like Goo Goo Dolls, Rise Against, The Offspring, grandson, k-flay, Sum41, and many more. I love creating unique sets to shoot promos for bands, but my passion is always shooting concerts – where I can always feel that joy that I felt when I was 19.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Photography was originally my side hustle or “hobby”. I worked at a call center for 8 long years, but every weekend I’d shoot events and I slowly built a client base. I also was slowly able to upgrade my gear, so I could take on bigger jobs and start charging more. It was so difficult in the last 2 years especially, because it felt like I basically had 2 full time jobs. I started feeling overwhelmed by my workload and with so much to edit, I went down to part time at my “real” job. After a few weeks of part time, and booking more and more shoots, I realized that if I just let my day job go, I could book more and have more time to focus on editing and marketing. It was such a hard decision to make, but once I did, things really started taking off. I let fear of failure stop me for at least 2 years from going full time with my photography business, and I definitely could have gone for it sooner, but I am so proud of myself for finally doing it.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being an artist, you encounter a lot of people who “just don’t get it”. I’ve been called creepy, weird, strange and many people have told me that they don’t understand my art over the years. But then, every once in awhile, I’ll meet someone new who really connects with the art that I do. I’ve met so many amazing people through being an artist, and so many people feel comfortable enough to tell me their stories, and why they resonate with my art.

There are a lot of doubts when you’re an artist, like “what if no one understands?” “what if no one likes it enough to hang it on their wall?” “what if I’m not doing enough, or doing too much?” but there are also beautiful moments of reassurance, when you’re so proud of something that you created, and other people love it too. It is so hard to stay positive and not compare to others / feel overwhelmed, but it is necessary to keep going on. Being an artist is worth it, sharing your art with the world is worth it – even if it only connects with one person, that is the biggest reward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kelleycurranphotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelleycurran/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kelleycurranphotography
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelley-curran-a4b7a514a/
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kelleycurran13

Image Credits
All images credited to myself, Kelley Curran :)