Art Bio
Kevin OConnell
Kevin grew up in the South Suburbs of Chicago, Illinois in a middle class family of electricians. In high school, Kevin took his first photography class, which he loved. Unfortunately, he did not do so well because of the old Agfa camera he used that his father bought in Germany during the Korean War, and the fact that he never opened a book. He followed in the footsteps of his other family members and became an electrician, although it was not his passion. It wasn't until Kevin moved to Downtown Chicago in 2000 that he found a whole new world of creativity that he had never dreamed of. After 20 years of working as a photographer shooting weddings and family portraits, Kevin finally found a home and all his hopes and dreams started to become a reality. He never dreamed that eclectic style fine art photography would be so well appreciated, so he started by working on a documentary of very interesting reclusive people who lived in Chicago. This took three years to finish and gave him a much better understanding of the style of Art he was destined for.
In 2005, he had the idea to use his electrical experience to work as an electrician for the government at remote places around the world which most photographers will never see. Since leaving in 2005, Kevin has done very well in international competitions and placed in the top ten in the International Photography Awards. While living in the Marshall Islands, Kevin became very good friends with King Imata Kabua and started working on a documentary of the Marshallese culture. Most recently, Kevin spent six months working in Antarctica and China and hopes to go to Tibet to do a documentary on Tibetans in exile. He still uses Large and Medium Format cameras along with digital for old fashioned results because he loves to work with them. His creative techniques for photography get stronger and stronger, and his way of making his pictures look magically surreal with no computer manipulation makes Kevin's work a breath of fresh air.
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