Meet Carrie Anne Kelly of Carrie Anne Kelly Photography in North County

Carrie Anne, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My story is not brief; I wish it were! I am only 28, and it feels like it’s been a lifetime already. I’ve been a photographer since I was 17 when I first fell in love with the medium. Ive owned my own business for the last ten years, and I have been shooting specifically body-positive boudoir photography for the past 7 of those ten years.

Most people’s careers and journeys are fairly linear. You graduate college. You work a few jobs that you don’t like. You land a job you do like. Then you realize you want more of a challenge, etc. You steadily move towards your ‘goal.’ Since 2014, I have moved four times. It is insanely difficult to build a business that way, but I have been determined. Since 2014, I have worked SO many part-time jobs; the worst one being Ross for minimum wage. I have also shot for names like Under Armour and South Moon Under. My career has been a roller coaster of trying to figure it all out and work kind of whatever will give me the experience and skill I am in search of, and also continue to pay the bills.

When I graduated college, which were admittedly some of the greatest years and some of the hardest years, I knew I wanted to build my own business as a boudoir photographer. Up until then, I sort of shot whatever came my way. Weddings, families, events, etc. However, I felt very called to this very specific niche because of my own difficult journey with body image and an eating disorder. I was photographed by a very good friend of mine as she began her own career into boudoir, and it was so healing for me. The feeling of being seen through someone else’s perspective is so unbelievable. It really, truly is something else, and you just don’t know until you experience it.

Now, I have lived in Oceanside for the last ten months, and I love it. I knew when I moved here that my goal was to hit the ground running with my boudoir business and go. Here I am making it happen. I am so determined to succeed and root myself here.

Has it been a smooth road?
It has been the opposite of a smooth road. Over the last ten years, and more specifically, since 2014, I have always had to work a part-time job to keep up with my lifestyle and afford to live. It wasn’t until 2015, when I moved to Annapolis, MD that I began shooting full time as a photographer for Under Armour. I learned a lot about the fashion industry and even got to shoot an editorial at that time. It was an amazing experience, but I came home every day feeling less than fulfilled. I was working seven days a week most weeks because my main focus was always building a business of my own. I would work full time at Under Armour, and then I would take on my own client’s Saturday and Sunday. In 2017, I made the decision to leave and pursue freelance photography full time. It was the greatest decision I have ever made. My work ethic is something I pride myself on, and I believe it to be the reason I am successful. I am always working towards a greater goal. Not to say that the present isn’t enough, but I am always thinking, “If this, then what?”- “If I lose my job, what will I fall back on?”. I am always trying to better my skills in all areas and never settle or get too comfortable. Sometimes that is also my weakness. I have become skillful and successful in many areas creatively, but the one area that I wanted to become better at (boudoir and running a full-time boudoir business) was lacking. I knew I would be moving again in September 2018, and I made it a goal to manifest moving to California and building the business of my dreams. Ten months later, here I am.

So let’s switch gears a bit and tell us more about your work.
I run a boutique boudoir studio in Oceanside, offering body-positive boudoir photography. I tend not to use the term’ body positive’ too often, because the more it gets used, the more it gets pulled away from the movement of people who started it, and without getting too political, I am not a part of that movement because I do not live in a marginalized body. But, I say it because I need it to be known that all bodies regardless of ability, age, race, height, weight, etc. are welcome and loved in my studio. Not only are you welcome, but I will not hide you or make you look different; I will embrace all of you! If you identify as female and you have skin, hair, freckles, dimples, rolls, bones, can’t stand upright, have scars, can’t hear, etc.- you are welcome in my space. I work with a lot of women who are beginning to identify that they need to change (and want to change) the way in which they view themselves and others and the way they speak and think about themselves and others. They are mothers, daughters, wives, sisters. They’ve experienced trauma. They want to give these images as a gift to themselves and their partner. They are simply trying to exist as well as reclaim their power, their identity, and their sexy side. When they ask me to be a part of their journey, I am honored every time.

I really focus on creating a safe space for women to explore their sexuality as well as have fun and enjoy being supported and uplifted by another woman (me!) AND have beautiful photographs taken of them. I am known for being authentic and blunt and bold while giving my client’s an unforgettable experience. I am a posing professional. I don’t hide your body when I photograph you. I am so confident in my ability to help women feel safe and empowered and embrace feeling sexy and confident. I am proud of taking all of my past experiences and bringing them into the business I am building in Oceanside. What sets me apart and keeps me authentic is the fact that I am just as real as all of my clients. I struggled with a terrible eating disorder and body dysmorphia and while I am in a much better place, if you follow me or know me, you know I am very open about it; the good and the bad. I was once a very fragile individual. I lacked confidence so badly I couldn’t even socialize at parties with friends because I felt so terrible inside. There is a way out of that feeling. I am not saying boudoir will heal you forever, but it certainly set me on an incredible journey.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I am not sure where I see this industry going, but being that boudoir has already become less of “male gaze” and more about self-empowerment, I see it continuing on that path. I say self-empowerment and not female empowerment because I think the future of boudoir is more inclusivity. Getting even further away from it being just a thing female-identifying humans do, but something that any humans can do- regardless of how you identify.