For the first part of 2016, my iPhone camera lens had a crack in it.  This was a huge bummer, because it prevented me from creating iPhone Portraits.  It was the first time in about 3 years I wasn’t creating spontaneous portraits with my iPhone.  As someone who usually doesn’t create an image without some sort of production, creating a spontaneous portrait on a whim is an incredibly satisfying and exciting experience.

Not having a fully functioning iPhone camera for several months was a pivotal time for this project.  A little part of me was feeling burnt out and tired.  In the first three years, I had photographed over 300 iPhone portraits of family, friends, and strangers.  I wondered if I would ever regain my excitement for this project if I stopped pushing myself to create.

Eventually in the Spring, I did get a new iPhone.  The 6s.  As soon as I picked up the phone, I couldn’t wait to make an iPhone Portrait.  What I began to realize is the time away from this project gave me new energy and excitement to explore and push myself further.  My pace has slowed a bit for several reasons, but my excitement and focus has only grown.  The above images are a handful of the recent portraits I have made this Summer and Fall.  I will continue to share more about this project as I move forward.

You can see a larger gallery of my iPhone Portraits here, and you can also follow @johnkeatley on Instagram to see the full project unfold.

This is a portrait I recently shot of my good friend and colleague Eric Becker, who is a director / documentary filmmaker.  For over a year, Becker has been working on his film, Sound & Vision, which “explores issues facing the nearshore environment. It is a film about the oceans, told through the stories of people working to clean up, protect, and restore habitat in Puget Sound and beyond. The film is scheduled for release this fall.”  I really like this portrait, because it hints at the chaos of documentary filming, while capturing the beauty of the Puget Sound that Becker’s film strives to preserve.

I was lucky enough to see the film at a pre-screening not too long ago, and it is really beautiful.  Not your typical everybody freak out, we have a problem documentary, but one that explains a problem and offers hope, as well as a call to action.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, Becker and I will be leaving for the Philippines with Arts Aftercare next week.  I can’t believe it’s almost time to go.

Retouching by Gigantic Squid.

It’s an embarrassment of riches!  I am especially proud of the work I created over this past year, and it is an honor to have that work recognized by the international photography competition “Prix de la Photographie, Paris” (Px3).  This is my first time in the international game, and all 5 of the images above were selected as well as 2 honorable mentions.

From left to right:

Luke Burbank, host of Too Beautiful To Live for Seattle Met.  Art Director Benjamen Purvis.
Dennis Haysbert for Seattle Met.
Keli Carender, founder of the Tea Party political movement for Seattle Met.  Art Director Benjamen Purvis.
Plants Vs. Zombies / John Vechey, co-founder of Pop Cap Games for Inc.  Photo Editor Monique Perreault.
The Keatley Family 2010.  Personal work / self promotion.

This picture just makes me happy.  I feel like I say that a lot, but I have been staring and laughing at this portrait for weeks now.  I don’t think Nichelle is going to let me frame it in the house just yet, but I figured I could at least share it with you on the blog.  This is one of those images that I don’t really want to talk about very much because I feel like it is enjoyed best as it is, without spoiling it with too much information.
A very big thank you and congrats goes out to my wonderful model in this portrait and my good friend Sara Coates.  Obviously she is extremely talented, but she also just landed her first major roll in a major motion picture called Laggies.  Go Sara!