Kelli McGrath
Kelli is a photographer and architect with a background in Interior Architecture. Her point of view often reflects how people experience the spaces around them. Feelings of joy and peace can result when we observe the light, shadow, color, reflections, and movement all around us at any given moment.
Through her photography and art, she hopes to bring more awareness to the beauty of the everyday all around us.
She is currently based in San Francisco, having moved to this charming city after graduating from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Interior Design.
Observer who uses photography and grids/needlepoint/color pencil to document the beauty in everyday life
Latest inspirations?
Window shades, water, and natural light and shadow
Most surreal project?
Window shades project - proud of distilling a photograph of a building, noticing the window shades and making it into a documentation project that’s ongoing, incorporating 5 colors
Creative habits?
Carrying my camera around with me everywhere
What is your creative process?
Observing, which leads to playful experimentation of different mediums, that documents the beauty of everyday life
Starts with observing everyday life, going on a walk or taking a photo of something
Start seeing a pattern and distilling it down/abstracting it
Make something out of it - photo books, thinking about how the elements fit together, laying everything out, thinking about display, using the right medium
Medium is experimentation tool, how it’s laid out creates a better series
What are the challenges in your creative process?
Not a perfectionist but loves grids, so it’s frustrating when you can tell something’s off
Things I like require me to take my time and do it well but it’s not natural. For example, sensing misalignment in my designs, needing spell check, creating digital alignment of my photo captions
Balancing perfection and freedom can be frustrating
What are some challenges in your work as an architect?
Iterating faster on color/finishes. When a client wants to edit a color you have to manually change it and render 5 colors at once.
Another challenge is when client wants to see so many options. Would be helpful if the render software could spit out all the colors
Support layout design (ie. change this wall, what would it look like +/- 10 ft away), should the compact panel be X or Y? Instead of sensing what things should be, rather know out of endless options.
Sometimes the decisions made quicker are the better ones.
Come up with what you want and allowing software to generate it in different ways while keeping parameters firm (ie. 10 different layouts utilizing the same space for kiosks)
Uses Autodesk Revit a lot, yet it’s a very manual tool. It’s on humans to determine the best option, but not on them to draw out every option.
Architecture should be up to code, as it’s rooted in the real life human experience and realm that has to be physical. If technology can align on door swing / stair riser height, tell if it’s up to code (ie. “spellcheck for architecture design”), guardrail for toilet heights if it can register how to move it up instead of manual checking
Map out your creative journey
(1) Pre-creation - 50% observing, walking (loves it so much)
(2) Creation - 45%
(3) Post-creation - 5% wants to get better at sharing, increased from 1
Where do you share your work online?
Mostly Instagram (know/interact with followers, can react), sharing on my personal website, putting it on my business card
Not on Behance or Dribble as it’s too distant, don’t know the people who see it
Wants more human interaction, sharing with people at work or other people you see, being open to sharing with strangers
Used to not tell people about work but my POV is interesting (mindfulness/presence is important), trying to let it flow naturally
Favorite design tools and why?
Indesign - allows layout / ability to create a story from photographs, compiling images to document, seeing the process to compile everything and document it rather than a photo that shows just one outcome
Illustrator - graphic design work, prints
Lightroom - photo editing, straightening them out
Colored pencils (my 5 colors), my camera, Indesign, grid paper, Lightroom
How do you organize your photos/projects?
OneDrive - cloud subscription with storage
Organizes folders with a personal naming convention:
2023 photos
Window shades project
Thoughts on some new creative tool ideas?
Actionable feedback tool - 7/10, love the idea of getting feedback for the perfectionist (ie. alignment, shifting, straighten) but hesitant to take creative feedback because creation should feel “mine” in constructing it, can lose trust (hesitant about AI), unsure about giving up creativity for something too digital but if it’s practical it would be great (imagine laying out a book digitally and font selection, making the photos fit and snap to grid and auto straighten, align, same setting of adjustment to save time, etc.)
Visual concepting tool - inspired by what I see in present moment so it’s hard to go to the tool to help me, seeing physical world in a different light - seeing the moment in time in a different year, seeing it in the past (livecam of places), compiling documenting / catalog of everyday life. Potential ideas here: archive tool (seeing the same place different eras) / clustering of images (ie. auto organizing photos instead of manual, especially organize by time of day, make documenting easier)
When are you most inspired?
When I’m on my walks in city neighborhoods around buildings, like Russian Hill or a long walk through SF. Walking helps visualize real life mindfulness - I especially love windows and water, seeing how humans are interacting.
Where/how do you do your best work?
In my apartment, sitting at my white tulip table on my orange seat, looking out my window.
How do you hope to grow as a creative?
Getting more confident at sharing my work (I’m getting there)! Creation comes easily, but I want to grow in finding joy in the sharing process and enjoy the in between journey that doesn’t feel like a burden.