Boston-based Kelly Conlin began his photographic journey in the 1970s, when he borrowed his father's 35mm Kodak Retinette, built a basement dark room and started a photography business while in high school. He charged $1.80 to develop a roll of Tri-X (the circa 1975 price list is here), and was aided by the ever useful Kodak Photoguide.
While he began his career as a journalist, he was pulled to the business side of magazine publishing and, despite the opportunity to travel the world, a briefcase replaced his camera. In recent years, as he rekindled his early passion for photography, he aspires to no longer see the world largely from a rushing taxi or a bustling hotel lobby, but to take the time to slow down, absorb, and reflect on where he is and who he encounters—listening and learning while capturing compelling images that, at their best, create emotional connections.
Selected Exhibitions and Recognition
2024
Xposure 2024, Photography Festival in Dubai, Winners Gallery for Street Photography
Paris Photo Prize (Prix de la Photographie), 2nd Place Overall, Street Photography; Gold Medal, Street Photography; Gold Medal Street Portraiture; Honorable Mention (x4)
A Smith Gallery, "Portraits" juried show
Lens Culture Street Photography Awards, Editors Pick
Monovisions Black & White Photography Awards, Honorable Mention (x3)
Street Photographers Foundation Awards, Editors Pick
Praxis Gallery, "Streets" juried show
PhotoPlace Gallery, "Light and Shadow" juried show
Plymouth Center for the Arts, "57th Annual Juried Art Show" 1st Place, Photography
Street Macadam Street Photography Awards, Editors Pick
International Photography Awards (IPA), 1st Place, Street Photography, Honorable Mention, Street Photography
Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, "Snapshot America: A Portrait of these United States 2024" Exhibition (two images) and companion book.
Istanbul Street Photography Festival, Finalist
Cuba Seen magazine, Issue #9, "Cuban Heart" -- two images published
2023
56th Annual Plymouth Center for the Arts juried show, 2nd Place Photography
Main Street Arts "Small Works" juried show
A Smith Gallery "Colors" juried show
Photo Place Gallery "Poetry of the Ordinary" juried show
Mistlin Gallery "Celebration of the Arts" juried show
Photo Place Gallery "Monochrome" juried show
Praxis Gallery, "Open Theme" juried show
The Curated Fridge, 2024 Winter Show
Photographic Resource Center "Your Works Here" annual exhibit
Griffin Museum of Photography "Winter Solstice" annual exhibit
ND Magazine photography awards, Honorable Mention
Lens Culture "Editors' Pick" Art Photography Awards
Photographic Society of America -- Merit Award
PISPA -- Paris International Street Photography Awards--Bronze (3rd Place) in Street Fashion Photography.....Honorable Mentions in other categories including Road Trip, Urban Love and Urban Street Art.
NYC4PA -- New York Center for Photographic Art -- 2nd Place in the "Colors of the Commonplace" juried show
"One of the many rewards of street photography is the connection you make--however brief--between photographer and subject. It can be explicit or implicit, a long conversation or a fleeting glance, sometimes even surreptitious, but it results in a connection preserved. The privilege of capturing the lives around us." Havana, 2023.
Contact
Email: kelly@conlin.com
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