Meet Kelly Tanner | Photographer, licensed massage therapist and Reiki practitioner

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

Hi Kelly, what inspires you?
The world around me inspires me. Whatever catches my eye really. I have a camera or phone with me everywhere I go for that reason. You may find something interesting in the unlikeliest of places. Exploring new places and offering my perspective through photos is one of my favorite things.

Art history and other photographers and artists inspire me a great deal as well. Aesthetically, I gravitate more towards photographers that have a background in painting and design.

When I think back to early influences, I’d have to say, at the root are style and design elements. For example when I watch a Guillermo Del Toro, Tim Burton, or Scott Caan film, much of my enjoyment is derived from the design elements and cinematography; how it’s shot. Joel Schumacher was a big one for me also…The Lost Boys and Flatliners especially. Prior to directing, he was a designer and student at Parsons.

But ultimately, I think it’s about preserving time through photography. Ed Harris plays a famous photographer in the film Kodachrome and he articulates it well saying, “We’re all so frightened by time. The way it moves on; everything’s disappeared. But that’s why we’re photographers. We’re preservationists by nature. We take pictures to stop time. Commit moments to eternity. Human nature made tangible…”

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 taken pictures for as long as I can remember. A photography class in high school opened the door for me. We’d even develop our own film in the darkroom. It was the entire process and I loved it.

But I flirted with self doubt and some poor choices early on in college, and ended up settling down and eventually into a job that just paid the bills, instead of pursuing the creative path I longed for. It was a good, secure, yet unfulfilling administrative and medical billing job in healthcare. It was comfortable and I loved the people, but being more creative, it took its toll on me over time. You feel a part of you wither away every time you sit behind a desk and do something that’s not in line with your passions. And then I got the diagnosis…the big C in my early thirties. It was a time when I had made some difficult, yet positive changes and thought my life was just starting. Instead, I was faced with my own mortality much sooner than I would’ve liked to. But the silver lining in that experience was my physical therapist who inspired me to do something professionally that would help people, like she helped me. So I decided to go back to school for massage therapy. I had some pushback about my choice, recommending I be a nurse instead, but I knew massage would give me the creative outlet I craved in a profession, while still helping people.

While massage and Reiki energy healing are my bread and butter, I’ve continued to photograph over the years. Whenever I’ve stepped away from it for a period of time, or any type of creative endeavor, I feel something missing. It’s an outlet for expression like no other. And it’s a necessary outlet, because I learned the hard way, if you bottle things up and don’t express them, it manifests itself in different ways…sometimes in illness. Photography may only be a side gig for now, but it’s a love that will never wane for me and I enjoy being able to share it with others.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I currently reside in Northwest Indiana.

Colorado is such a beautiful state! I would definitely suggest we walk around Morrison and see a show at Red Rocks, camping and hiking in the Rockies and some sledding at the Great Sand Dunes. And spend some time exploring and photographing Maroon Lake which I haven’t seen yet but it’s at the top of my list.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have been fortunate enough to have support and encouragement from family and friends over the years. Also the couple courses I took at MIAD (Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design) out of high school were inspiring and a great experience. There’s great energy in the art/third ward district of Milwaukee.

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