Well, let me tell you...
Ainsley Kellar Bio
I graduated from New York University in 1992. Following adventures acting in LA, I turned to a career producing TV commercials and industrial videos in 1998 and opened my own company, ARK Productions, in 1999. ARK Productions is an 18 TIME Telly Award Winning and TWO-TIME Aurora Award Winning full service digital video production house. I create television commercials and industrial videos from innovative script to screen, collaborating with my clients to set them apart and ahead of their competitors. For more information go to ARKProductions.com.
~ My photography has been featured in 50+ gallery exhibits.
~ Two of my photos won the Learning Through Art 2010 Kroger Cincinnati Snaps competition.
~ My image, "Trust", was selected in September of 2010 as an online National Geographic Daily Dozen pick.
~ In June of 2012, I won a Purchase Award during Art Design Consultant’s opening night awards ceremony. Their presenting sponsor purchased my capture, “Joining The Ladies At The Local Gossip Spot”.
~ In the fall of 2012, "Trust" won the Frame Cincinnati photo contest and was one of 50 chosen from thousands of entries to be prominently displayed in the Atrium at the Public Library downtown in conjunction with the citywide Fotofocus Extravaganza.
~ Additional captures from my portfolio were selected for exhibit in two other Fotofocus venues in both 2012 and 2014.
~ On April 5th, 2013, I was the inaugural Rising Star award winner, presented by the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra for Arts Excellence and Advocacy.
~ In May of 2013, three of my photos were featured during the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s performances of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon’s piece All Things Majestic. My photos were shown as part of an animated slide show of iconic Cincinnati images on a screen suspended above the orchestra.
~ For the second year in a row, my work was chosen for showcase in the Art Comes Alive 2013 Final Exhibit. My photo submission, “Psychedelic Scent”, ranked in the top 10% of all art works that were entered that year. Ultimately, "Psychedelic Scent" won a 2013 Purchase Award.
~ My work, "Ava By The Window" was a finalist in a contest hosted by PDN magazine and was featured in their November 2013 issue and was exhibited at the 2013 PDN PhotoPlus Expo in New York, and was seen by 23,000 attendees!
~ In the fall of 2016, several of my images were showcased in three invitation-only FotoFocus venues; the YWCA downtown, Xavier University and Art Beyond Boundaries.
*My Philosophy*
When it comes to my photography, I am a purist. I thrive on natural, subtle light illuminating life caught between layered shadows. I do not believe in manipulating a scene to produce a manufactured outcome or emotion. In street situations I am drawn to photographing candid moments that capture the essence of the person or scene without being obtrusive or staged. In every genre I strive to connect to the raw elements of the image itself without bogging it down with filters or Photoshop after the fact. In macro work I seek out the world hidden within the everyday that often gets overlooked by the naked eye. With a macro lens, something as miniscule as a butterfly's facial features or the single wispy seed of a delicate dandelion become art in and of itself, front and center, especially when enlarged to poster proportions, which I revel in at 20X30 to get the full effect. At 20X30 or larger, the viewer gets the feeling of suddenly becoming a part of the framed scene they are witnessing, and in gazing at the image you find yourself emerged in that setting, be it a cobblestone street, a poppy-covered field on a sun-kissed day or
within an ancient, mysterious passageway...
