by Anastasia Kadiyala
Arts Reporter
Math teacher Andrew Kelly does not just grade tests and make lesson plans in his free time, but Kelly also takes photos. Photography is no longer just a hobby for Kelly, but a career alongside teaching.
Kelly was drawn to photography at a young age, and as he got older, he started to get more serious about photography.
“I started to take photos when I was young,” Kelly said. “When I got to high school I took photography classes, and then that’s when I really got into it.”
Because teaching requires the majority of his time and energy, Kelly has had to cut down on how much time he designates to his photography career.
“I’m not shooting as much as I could, or would like to, because teaching takes up a lot of my time, so I’m limiting the amount of jobs I take,” he said. “I do about ten weddings a year, and portraits: mostly of babies and toddlers, and I do those a few times a month.”
Kelly loves both photography and teaching, and does not plan to give either up.
“I love teaching, and I want to be here,” he said. “Unless something drastically changes in either, I plan to keep [my photography and teaching careers] as they are now.”
Kelly has photographing for the alternative band, the Lumineers, since 2006. Kelly has traveled the world following their concerts and taking photos for them.
“I’ve known them since I was a little kid, so it’s not as much ‘oh, wow, it’s the Lumineers.’ I went to school with two of them, and I lived in the same town as them,” Kelly said. “It’s cool to see other people come to enjoy their music.”
Kelly has toured with them all over the world, including Italy, Norway, Japan, Argentina, and Brazil.
“It was neat to go to all the places that I had never been before,” Kelly said.
Kelly took photos for the girls’ soccer team this past season, alongside sophomore Lianora Villarreal-Halprin. Villarreal-Halprin took videos for the team, while Kelly took photographs.
“He mentored us, and helped us take the videos, and we learned a lot,” Villarreal-Halprin said. “He taught me how to make better quality videos, including how to zoom in and out.”
Even though he has been taking photos for a long time, Kelly feels as though he is still getting better through his practice.
“Each time I do something, I feel as though I was better than the time before,” Kelly said. “When I look back at my old stuff, I cringe and I’m like holy cow, I can’t believe I produced that.”
Check out some of Kelly’s work here: http://andrewkellyphotography.com
