A THIEF OBSERVED

Words: Ang Smith

You placed your pupils here to read about something, why? Maybe to smile, to feel smarter, to know you’re not alone. Or maybe just to cleanse yourself of the last fifteen minutes you spent actively perusing the web – no judgment, support the industry that supports you I say. But I ain’t gonna kid you. All you’re going to get from reading this is a gullet full of grief. You’re going to feel angry. You’re going to feel sad. But most of all you’re going to feel envious. Because as someone who gets paid to shoot the greatest rock stars on the planet, a key contributor to Artrocker Magazine and a featured talent in Rolling Stone, Kelli Morris has a good job. A job makes you feel like less of a contributing human after hearing about it…But she’s giving advice on how you can thieve it from her. So swap the tissue box for a pen and pad. Take notes. Get started.

SPOOK: Where did it all begin?

Kelli Morris: I grew up in Perth, WA and always enjoyed music. I had a lot of friends in bands, and started taking my camera along to gigs. I studied photography at TAFE for 3 years, and by the time I finished, I was really keen to get out and see the world. I travelled around Europe for five years, keeping London as a home-base and slowly moved through the stages.

SPOOK:What was Europe like?

Kelli Morris:I was young. Really young. And to have experienced all of that, at such an age, it was insane. My photography wasn’t my main focus – it was more the desire to see that part of the world. To see and live in a different world. I was working part-time in a studio, this great prestige studio, and each day was an exciting mystery of seeing what celebrity was going to walk through the doors. Jimmy Page. Ozzie Osbourne. Paul McCartney. It became more of timing toilet breaks right, so I could bump into people in the hallways.

SPOOK:You’ve played a pretty major part in Artrocker Magazine. How did that come about?

Kelli Morris:I had a friend who helped out with Artrocker, so I got a foot in the door that way. I started shooting at the bigger festivals. I shot at LoveBox, with Blondie. The B52’s. Morrissey. People that I had looked up to as a kid. God’s almost. And it would be so hard. Here I am, standing before these people. Metres away. And it was almost as though I couldn’t hear their music, because I was so wrapped up in capturing the right moment. I was lost in the composition, the lighting. All the little details that make a great photo.

SPOOK:How many frames would you be shooting?

Kelli Morris:When I first started, it was like gun-fire. My finger wouldn’t leave the shutter out of fear. This absolute terrifying fear that I’d miss something. But you grow in that way. You learn to wait. You learn to predict the right moments.

SPOOK:You’ve racked up a fair list of talent. Can you pick a favourite set that you’ve photographed?

Kelli Morris:It’s so hard to choose! I recently worked with Super Wild Horses for their new debut album, shooting from behind the scenes of their video clips, which was really cool. It ended up being more of a girl’s weekend away with a camera in my hand, than a standard job.

SPOOK:Inspiration. Who gets you all hot and steamy inside?

Kelli Morris:A lot of the time I’ll just see a single photo, a great photo, and it will move me more than flicking through a particular photographer’s gallery. Tony Mott is great. Annie Leibovitz is awesome, sure. But often, it’s just a single little frame that will hit home.

SPOOK:Everyone can be a photographer today. Discuss.

Kelli Morris:It’s definitely more of a challenge. Photography was once a process and very few people had the patience to work within it. Now everything is instant, everything is accessible and everyone can do it. Bands don’t have money, they have friends. And it’s cheaper to team up a willing friend with a camera, than to pay for someone who actually knows what they’re doing. It’s great to see more people doing it. It’s great to see people developing the passion. But it becomes harder to demonstrate the value. It becomes harder to convince people that what you’re doing is actually worth something.

SPOOK:You’re living in Melbourne now. How’s life?

Kelli Morris:I’ve been here for about eighteen months. It’s a level of in-between, I guess. Not as full-on as Europe. Not as laid-back as Perth. Melbourne is a great city. It’s a flexible city and you don’t have to specialise in one area. It welcomes you into different arenas. I love it, but it’s hard having to build up your contacts again. No-one cares about your background. Everyone can have a great website. Everyone can have an amazing portfolio. But if you don’t have the connections to get a chance to show it off, you’ve got nothing. You’re just another person with a camera.

SPOOK:What is photography to you?

Kelli Morris:It’s life. I mean, it’s my complete life. I never considered anything else. I just naturally moved into it. I love the freedom of it. That I’m capturing these great memories, and that I’m getting paid to do something I love. And I don’t think I’ll be an old Grandma in the front row shooting bands. But I’ll have all the photos to look back on and remember.

SPOOK:What would you say to the kids aspiring to steal your job?

Kelli Morris:Keep shooting. It’s the only way you learn. The more you do it, the better you get. Some days you’ll want to turn off your alarm and stay in bed. It’s too dam easy to stay in bed in this profession. Keep shooting. Keep knocking on doors. Keep slogging it out. It’s all worth it in the end.