Tim Kelly Looks Back to Go Forward

“My clients appreciate the fact that
they are getting something they
know few people can produce.
They know their piece is going
to be collectable, too. When
they come in, they are
already committed to a
much higher entry level
of purchase. It’s good
for business and good
for me as an artist.”
—TIM KELLY

All images ©Tim Kelly
Tim Kelly
reaches back to
move forward
Adaptation
BY ERIC MINTON

T
one
mitted to a much higher entry level of purim
Kelly, M.Photog.Cr., F-ASP, is looking ahead—toward
his immediate future in the Orlando, Fla., market where
his portait studio is located, and far beyond to his legacy. To get a clear view,
though, he’s looking deep into his past. The New Jersey native, who started
working in a photography studio in 1968, has run Tim Kelly Portraits in
form or another since 1978. Two years
ago, he embarked on the business’s latest
incarnation as a high-end, film-based studio
working with the Fine Artists Management
agency in Atlanta to secure and vet clients.
That agency’s name is indicative of Kelly’s
thinking about his new business model, one
akin to visual artists in other mediums. “That
was a big, big change, to step out of retail and
handle the business like a fine artist,” he says.
“I needed to find a vehicle for what I wanted
to create, what I wanted to be, what I wanted
to do every day. For me, anything that resembles
retail was something I didn’t want. I
couldn’t take another ‘What’s the 8-by-10
charge?’ or having to prove to a senior’s
mom that I’m worth what I charge.”
This was a calculated decision as much as
a heeding of his heart. His business—which
includes a customer service rep, a studio
assistant, a retouch artist, and a video department
run by his son—halved its volume of
clientele, which might have happened anyway
given current economic and industry
conditions, Kelly suggests. Even so, he’s filling
a lucrative niche with limited competition
in selling large-format art portraits in
the form of photogravures, platinumpalladium,
and silver prints.
“My clients appreciate the fact that they
are getting something they know few people
can produce,” says Kelly. “They know
their piece is going to be collectable, too.
When they come in, they are already com-

chase. It’s good for business and good for
me as an artist.”
Kelly, who has a portfolio of award-winning
work from 45 years in the business, is
pointing both his business and artistic compasses
toward galleries and print sales, both
of which had long been sidebars to his studio
business. By his estimate, Kelly is spending a
quarter of his time “honing my ultimate
portfolio,” with an eye toward a new exhibit
and book. He’s gone back to the darkroom to
reprint his collection in platinum-palladium.
“Platinum has no enemies; the prints last
forever,” he says. “It takes more skill and labor
to do it, but those prints are highly valued.”
Kelly’s ideal clientele includes collectors
and galleries in addition to studio customers.
“I’m already making clients happy, so I’m
working toward a body of work that will go
on after I do,” he says. Even with the cut in
volume, he figures his studio work will yield
a half-dozen images a year that could end up
among his collectible prints.
NEW AGAIN
Kelly was an early convert to digital photography,
but when it became ubiquitous,
he found a new competitive edge: “I’m
going back to what I love most, handmade
work.” Black-and-white prints became his
primary product about three years ago.
Then he built his own wet darkroom so he
could produce silver and platinum prints.
In addition to his 4x5 Gowlandflex twinlens
reflex camera, another key piece of his
“new” equipment is something he bought
as office decor about the time he went filmless:
an 8x10 Century No. 7 Studio Camera.
He had the lens and shutter serviced and a
flash sync added.
“I’m not a gear hound at all. I use what
works,” he says. “If I don’t use something in

a year, it’s gone.” He uses Photogenic lighting
and Larson soft boxes, and he has
designed some of his own backgrounds,
but most of his current favorites are from
Backgrounds by Mahue.
He has stockpiled Polaroid PN55 positive/
negative film to use in the Gowlandflex. “It
provides a negative and a print, so I have
both at once and I know I’m satisfied,” he
says. Of course, not only is Polaroid extinct,
the film itself is outdated. “You buy boxes
and you’re not sure it works,” Kelly says. He
uses it sparingly. He’s also shooting with
4x5 Kodak film, but when the PN55 disappears
completely, it will be a sad day for the
artist in Kelly. “It’s just a beautiful film. But
when it goes, it goes.”
A SMILE IS JUST A SMILE
Tim Kelly uses a standard when it comes to smiling that he takes from the old masters
of portrait painting: You’ll seldom see any teeth. “Most of my people are not smiling. It
gives you a more powerful piece.” One benchmark of great art is how long it holds the
viewer’s attention, says Kelly. “If it’s smiling at me, three seconds. If it’s contemplative,
I look at it longer.” He points out that portrait painters of old never showed teeth in
their paintings. Mona Lisa’s fame is largely due to her enigmatic smile.
IT’S ART AS USUAL
Kelly says he has always approached photography
as an art; it’s the business around
it that changes. “I’ve always drifted into art
and back into retail and back and forth.”
From 1988 to 1990 he had a high-end
studio and gallery on Park Avenue in Winter
Park, Fla., and a business model similar
to his present one. “I wouldn’t meet a client
until they had a contract for a portrait,”
Kelly says. “I was an aloof artist back
then.” Though the venture was successful,
he decided he didn’t like the storefront
location. He built a 2,400-squarefoot
gallery and studio behind his house,
which he continues to use. While Kelly’s
business has long been a high-end portrait
studio, over time it drifted back into a more
retail-like shop.
“It’s now time to reinvent ourselves again,”
he says, “which is to my design and delight.” ■
See more of Tim Kelly’s work at
timkellyportraits.com.
Eric Minton is a writer and editor in
Washington, D.C.
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