Meet Kelly Fogel | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kelly Fogel and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelly, we’d love to hear about a book that’s had an impact on you.
Two books that have made an impact on my life and that I have gifted to many friends are Many Lives, Many Masters and Miracles Happen by Brian Weiss and his daughter Amy. I’ve always been interested in past lives and stories about people who have had near death experiences and traveled between realms. I’ve studied with Dr. Weiss and he is the coolest!

Another book that I highly recommend to everyone is Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing. She takes the reader on a journey following two family lineages that begin in Ghana in the 1700s, following the story of a different family member through every generation until present day. It’s a profound work that I hope everyone reads.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve been doing photography since I could hold a camera. My first shoots were of my toys and pets at home using Polaroid film. A lot of my work is with wildlife conservation and that goes back to being about 10 years old and learning that elephants were going extinct because of ivory poaching so I took my camera and went to the LA Zoo to document them “before they went extinct.” Now 30 years later I have been continuing to document elephants and all kinds of conservation stories and my work has been published in Dr. Joyce Poole’s ethogram of all known elephant behavior. If my photographs can inspire to take an action that makes the world a better place then I have accomplished my mission.

My career has taken many twists and turns starting with an internship at Madonna’s Maverick Records while getting my master’s in writing from CalArts. I worked in marketing at Maverick and Warner Bros Records for several years. In 2007 I left to run the celebrity/talent relations for Rock the Vote, a non-profit that encourages young people to register to vote and participate in the political process. I spent some time managing music artists after the Rock the Vote campaign and began traveling to Africa. In terms of photography, I have always incorporated being a photographer into all my jobs, from being the still photographer on music video sets and on tour to documenting political campaigns and protests. In terms of my photography career specifically, I was the stills photographer on a two-year doc called Venice Unzipped and have been working with a foundation called Ohana One documenting their innovative work with smart glasses and medical training in Mozambique and around the world.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love to take friends horseback riding on the top of Beachwood Canyon. When I have friends visiting I love to show the whole city, everything from Skid Row to Malibu.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I look back at the last decade of my work as a documentary photographer and who I need to thank is every single person who has allowed me to photograph them across many countries. I’ve photographed thousands of beautiful souls who inspire me to continue doing what I love and telling their stories.

All the students I’ve mentored at Venice Arts and Pablove Shutterbugs have inspired me so much. Issa Sharp who ran the majority of Venice Arts classes I mentored has taught me so much from observing her teach and work with the students.

In terms of my own photography mentors, I’ve been working with Sara Terry on finding my visual voice and Joe Mcnally working more closely with light. I completed the Missouri Photo Workshop in September 2022 and was guided there by Sarah Leen, former director of Nat Geo Photography and Gabrielle Lurie from the SF Chronicle.

Website: www.KellyFogel.com

Instagram: @KellyFogelphotography

Other: https://sites.google.com/missouriphotoworkshop.org/mpw74/home/kelly-fogel