We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kelly Mifsud. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kelly below.

Kelly, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

I always say, “pay attention to your life” and I try to share the good alongside the bad with raw emotion and authenticity. I hope that’s the legacy that I leave behind. My work and who I am at my core is based heavily on this. I cannot be a good artist, mother, daughter or friend if I am not paying attention to the small things in my everyday life that move me: the wind in the trees, the light on the walls, the quick glances across the room, the music playing in the background, the way a hand feels with fingers entwined in mine. Our lives can be busy and complicated, but the everyday moments hold so much beauty and value. This is why I always encourage my clients to allow our sessions to be mostly unscripted – that is where the magic happens – when we loosen up and let our masks fall away. This creates true connection with one another and with the audience, personally and professionally. I hope that when people look at my photographs, they don’t just see an image, they feel it.

I think that after I am gone, people will say that I shared my own stories as well as theirs with truth and passion as well as constantly reminding them to pause and notice what’s beautiful in this world. I want to be remembered as an artist and a person who was honest, authentic and made others feel seen, accepted, heard and above all, valued.

Kelly, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have been some sort of an artist for as long as I can remember. When I was seven years old, after watching a made for TV movie musical of Alice In Wonderland it was settled: I knew that I wanted a life in the arts. Thankfully, my parents supported this and never said “no” to anything I wanted to try. I sang ALL the time practicing until every note was perfect., I took dance lessons, I bought a keyboard and began to study the piano. I learned how to play the flute and I joined the band. I took acting classes every weekend at our local community theater, voice lessons during the week, took part in summer stock shows wherever I could – the list goes on and on. I also loved to write (I have boxes filled with poems, stories, plays and personal journals). From fourth grade on, you could find me with a camera in my bag at all times and once high school hit, I was known as the historian in my group of friends – snapping pictures and then taking pen to paper, recording the details of our days. I went to college to study music and theater, but after 2 1/2 years, I took a break. When I once again began the audition process and I was ready to return to school, life had other plans for me: I became a mother a handful of months before my twenty-fourth birthday.

I have been a single parent for two significant portions of my adult life. First, with my son in my mid-twenties and now in my forties, with my daughter. When I was raising my son, I worked in wireless for a company I loved, but when that company folded I was thrust into a new one that didn’t hit the mark for me, professionally, personally or financially. As I advanced in the industry, 40 hour work weeks quickly turned to 50+ and I was having a difficult time being available for my child and taking care of my own needs. One by one, I watched my peers move on and I knew that I needed to do the same thing. I felt that the demands this new company were placing on me were unreasonable, so I quit.

A former colleague began working for a portrait studio and doing his own photography on the side, which inspired me to purchase my first, quality DSLR. I started taking pictures with him and quickly realized that it was for me. It was time to get back to doing things that made my heart happy. At the same time this was going on, a close friend that had recently gone through a divorce began making a living for herself through graphic design; she was gracious enough to teach me basic design skills and how to use photoshop, Before I knew it, I was contracted for a few small photography and design jobs.

I started freelancing and I got a taste for what “living” could feel like, in alignment with what I wanted for myself and for my child. I was able to be active in my son’s life in a way that felt good to me, without the stress of missing meetings, finding someone to cover my shift, or having to find last minute child care. I could also maintain a personal life that felt nourishing.

After I became pregnant with my daughter in my early thirties, I made the decision to be a stay at home parent for several years, When the time came for me to leave my partner and step out on my own with her, I knew it would be difficult since I was without a formal education and I was out of the workforce for so long. I also knew that I wanted to fully experience raising her and leave myself time to experience the things that bring me joy on my own. This required control over my schedule and it was also very important to me that I love what I do. I began making jewelry and using the skills I already possessed, I built my brand. I took my knowledge of graphic design and created a logo and branding materials and I put down my phone, picked up my camera and began playing again. I wanted to get better at product photography, but I also wanted to get better at capturing my own life and weaving that into my brand. So I tried to create photographs with feelings. I slowed down and paid attention to the light, to the details, to what other people around me weren’t seeing. I began writing more and using the art of storytelling so the audience would want to get to know me as a person first; I knew that the sales would follow. And I trusted that that no matter what, all of my efforts would continue to lead me in the right direction.. Which is exactly what happened…Thanks to my photography and the building of my own brand, I was contracted by a local non-profit to help with their social media, highlighting their historic downtown and the small businesses there. I also felt the nudge to lean into where my passion lied – photography – so I launched Kelly Ann Photography, Storytelling Sessions.

Earlier this year, I felt called to step away from making jewelry and focus solely on my new business with an emphasis on emotion-driven images and photographic narrative. Within a week’s time, I did just that. I stepped back from my social media role and pulled my inventory from all of the local shops and online and sold it off. I built my own website and wrote the copy. I have cultivated a community of people online and in real life that believe in me and support me and in turn I do the same, whole-heartedly. I would not be here today without my people, and I need to acknowledge that.

My brand is…me. It’s living. It’s noticing. It’s gratitude. It’s personal growth and poetry. It’s vulnerability – so much vulnerability. It’s pivoting. It’s believing that life so incredibly beautiful and some of that you keep for yourself, but there is also a lot to be said for sharing it with others. When we share authentically, we create trust – in what we do, what we sell and who we are I want those around me to not only feel connected to what I do, but to who I am. In a society that loves to rush, I love to give people my time. What I have to offer that differs from everyone else is that I’m offering me. And I promise you, that when we are working together or hanging out after a job, with a glass of wine, you will get all of me. I am not sitting in a studio, with a bunch of fancy gear, trying to get the lighting perfect and forcing my subjects to stand a certain way and smile in order to get the narrative across. I absolutely believe there is a place for that, it’s just not for me! I am allowing people to just be, because I believe being yourself is powerful. It is enough. Your story matters. It’s what got you here and it’s what will bring you to the next chapter. I’m just glad I get to be a part of it.

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

I get to share life through my unique lens and then witness the ripple effect that has. Truthfully, one of the most rewarding things for me has been the people that it has brought into my world. Being a creative in a rural area has its challenges, but through the social media, I have made many lasting relationships both locally and afar that have been of great benefit to my personal life and my career. Once I began putting myself out there as an “artist” I slowly built a network that I am proud of. Finding people that share my core values, that I can bounce ideas off of, that I can work with, and that inspire and support me has been life-giving.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The goal is to live in a way that brings me joy and use my expression to make a positive impact in the lives of others. I always ask myself: How do I want my life to feel? How can I create the necessary time and resources to achieve that?

I operate best when I am taking part in something creative and when I get to collaborate and share with others in a meaningful way. I need my work to be fulfilling and a schedule that isn’t rigid. I am continually seeking out new ways to grow personally and professionally because if I know what life feels like when I don’t feel free…and that just isn’t for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kelly-ann-photography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelly.unscripted/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090146920874
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-mifsud-2392ab73/
• Other: email: [email protected]

Image Credits

Personal Image credit to Kirsten Hartzell Photography