What first drew you to photography? 

My first iPhone drew me to photography. I had never used a digital camera until I had one conveniently on my cell phone. At the same time, Instagram allowed me to post my digital images instantly, in real time, as I took my daily walk in the woods. Most of my early photos were unimpressive. But, I kept practicing. Alone, in nature, I felt entirely unselfconscious about being a beginner. Nature as a subject was easy, available and brought immediate spiritual rewards––to get an effective image with my iPhone I needed to be close up, often on my knees, on the ground. My camera lens naturally prompted my eyes to be acutely aware of everything I looked at. And also to wonder––what am I looking at? What kind of turtle or flower or tree or butterfly am I looking at? How does it live? Why is it here? What is its life cycle? How can it inform my life? Because my subjects––leaves, trees, turtles, skies, bodies of water, animal tracks, patterns in ice, berries and raindrops––weren’t human, I could take as long as I liked with my attempts at an image. I set a limitation for my approach: I only wanted to photograph aspects of nature that were already a composition. I didn’t move or touch anything. I found my images as they were created by weather and season, accident and spontaneity. I wanted my images to require very little editing, using only the tools of my basic camera app.

As both a poet and a photographer, do you often find you gravitate towards the same subjects in both mediums? Or are they two very different things for you?

Absolutely, my writing and photos are deeply connected––first, with my daily blog, #NewThisDay, a kind of online photo-inspired journal I have been keeping of my photos taken each day and my journal-like writing response. It’s a kind of religious practice for me. Since 2016, I have never missed a day of posting. And, yes, many of my poems are inspired by nature, or they involve nature themes integrated with family, childhood, motherhood, grandmother-hood. Often my blog writing inspires a first draft of a poem. Often the information I discover about an element of nature leads me to a poem.

These photos capture the moon so beautifully, and in different ways: beneath clouds, reflected against water, hanging low in the sky. What is your favorite thing about photographing night time? Are there any challenges that come with it?

Actually, I don’t photograph at night often. It’s not easy to make great iPhone images of night. There’s glare and flash, and I find my nighttime images mostly fail! So the images in Dulcet are rare ones that work: “Moon Over Istanbul,” and “Winter Night Window,” are night images, but “River of Stars” was actually shot during the day and only appears to be a night image. On cold, sunless days, the Charles River, where I live, often appears black as a night sky. Instinctively, I’m drawn to patterns in currents of water. I love how you can see so many invisible elements of a body of water enacted on the surface. Currents reflect the movement of time and they signify the life force to me. Currents make me aware of my own moods, states of mind, breath and energy. And they are intensely beautiful when viewed with varying elements of sunlight. Water is the most superb element for colorful, vibrant photos. I live in the woods and I have no curtains on any of my many windows, including this large window that is high on the wall in my bedroom. Windows want to bring trees into a home, a reminder that nature is a healer and source of beauty and wonder. Trees are always so glad to be alive and to show us how alive they are. Trees take us away from our human preoccupations.

What is your biggest inspiration when it comes to your photography?

Something that I have seen a million times before––but never exactly like it is in this particular moment, here and now in this moment of time. No single moment is ever the same. Every moment, nature is influenced by the effects of wind, color, rain, sun, season. And so are we.

What feelings do you hope to inspire in the people who view your photographs?

Be here now. Beauty is necessary for the body to see, smell, hear and touch, for the mind to understand, and for the spirit to be awed and uplifted.

View Kelly’s Photos in dulcet Literary magazine, vol. One, Issue No. 1.