Meet Keelia Trively

Today we’d like to introduce you to Keelia Trively.

Keelia, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Around my 16th birthday, I told my family that I wanted a camera. I didn’t know any photographers, and I’m still not sure what put this desire into my head. But one day it was there, and that’s what I wanted. So, for my 16th birthday, my family got me a Canon EOS Rebel T3i. I wanted to capture landscape photography, nothing else. But I soon learned that taking photos of people was the best way, and the only way for me at the time, to make any money. I started doing senior sessions and family sessions, eventually I did my aunt’s wedding, some graduation sessions, and more seniors and families. I did love these photo shoots, making my clients feel comfortable in front of my camera, but it wasn’t where my heart was at. I still wanted to find a way to just do nature photography and get paid that way. There was this desire in me to sell my photography, but I had very low self-confidence and often self-sabotaged, not searching for opportunities to sell my work.

Even before photography, the first artform I started and fell in love with was writing. While I continued with my photography, I also improved my writing, and I still write today. I found that I could combine photography and writing to tell stories of the unheard, real people with real stories that most of us never get to hear.

In college, I took on an internship with a nonprofit Haitian coffee company called Singing Rooster. They partner directly with farmers in Haiti and purchase their coffee at 3x what Fairtrade requires. This ensures that those farmers can provide for themselves and their families. I had the amazing privilege of traveling to Haiti in January 2019, and I fell in love with the island, her people, and the culture. While I was there, I documented coffee farmers and they shared with me the stories of their farms and their families, what they love about cultivating coffee, and what they want the rest of the world to know about Haiti and Haitian coffee. Many of them expressed how they truly believed Haitian coffee to be the best coffee, and that’s what they want others to know.

Growing up in the Midwest, getting to spend time with farmers in Haiti was such a blast and I understood their language, how they cared for their land. I decided then that I wanted to continue documenting coffee farmers and the struggles and victories they go through to provide us with our much-desired caffeine beverage. That led me to another company called iFinca. They are a technology company using a blockchain ledger system to track and show prices of coffee throughout the supply chain, including what the farmer was actually paid for his crop. iFinca works for the farmer to ensure they are paid equitable wages for their coffee.

While traveling to Haiti, Dominican Republic, and other places I’ve had the honor of meeting and interacting with artisans who make jewelry, mugs, clothes, and so much more. These people are what have ked me to start the process of creating and opening a retail location that focuses on local and global artisans, with the assurance that each artist will be paid an equitable price for their product. And they will have a say in determining their prices. I’m very excited for this new venture, and hopefully it will be open by the end of 2020 or beginning of 2021 in Sunnyslope!

Has it been a smooth road?
Every path has been tough, and I have not loved every minute of it. But in hindsight, I’m able to appreciate what I have gone through because it’s brought me to where I am now and where I plan on going in the future. I had many setbacks and many people telling me to not work so much and so hard. I’m 22 years old and I’ve had multiple people say that I’m simply working my life away. But I don’t see it that way. I’m working on building my own future the way I want it, and I’m not just doing this for myself. I want my younger sister and young cousins to see that it doesn’t matter where or what you come from, you can create and become whoever you want to be if you are willing to work for it. This is for them and anyone who thinks that what they were born into determines the success they are allowed to achieve.

Please tell us more about your work. What do you do? What do you specialize in? What sets you apart from competition?
My current company started as simply a photography business, Keelia Leigh Photography. This is when I was doing senior sessions and family sessions. As the years have passed, I’ve grown and expanded my business and my skillset immensely which has been a blessing. I’ve changed my name, my look, my website more times than I can count. I think I’ve found a brand that I’ll stick to for a while. Perspectives. I work a lot more with small businesses doing product photos and videos, teaching them how to use social media properly, creating marketing materials for them, and helping to get the word out about their businesses. I specialize in telling unique, unheard stories, which is also what sets me apart from other photographers. I truly have a heart for unheard stories and voices, and I want the world to hear these stories not in a pitying or charitable light, but in an ethical light that showcases all the talent that people everywhere have to offer.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I think Phoenix is a great spot for what I’m doing. Focusing on small businesses, it’s easy to find the people I want to work with and highlight. I would definitely recommend someone starting off here. There’s a great art scene that allows someone new to make connections with those who have been doing this for many years. I started in small town Nebraska, and I didn’t have a support system to lean on and learn from like I do here. There are also so many opportunities to showcase my work that I don’t think are in many other places.

Pricing:

• Digital copies are $20
• Prints range from $15 – $100 depending on framing
• Non-framed prints can be hand delivered from $20
• Non-framed prints can be shipped for $30

Contact Info:

• Website: www.perspectives.site
• Phone: 402.871.6649
• Email: perspectives.portfolio@gmail.com
• Instagram: perspectives.kt

Image Credit:
The portrait photo of myself was taken by Thomas Nelson.

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