To watch Kelly Holinshead work is to watch a woman with purpose and intent creating emotional and veracious images. With a readily apparent passion for her work, she is known as a leading photographer in the region.

As a member of one of Huntsville’s pioneer families, it’s no surprise that Kelly’s striking photography so often mirrors the diverse and timeless beauty of Muskoka. The stately majesty of an Algonquin pine and the rough plane of the Canadian Shield have long captured her photographer’s eye, and this connection to the land is the foundation for the emotion behind her photography. However, Kelly does not let her roots bind her to Muskoka; also an avid traveler, she has used her lens to capture scenes as diverse as petrified waterfalls in Mexico to camel wrestling in Turkey.

Her technique has been molded both formally and practically. Kelly draws on knowledge gained from film and photography studies at Ryerson University, as well as fine art courses taken while living on Canada’s west coast. Her lifelong passions for studies in landscape and portraiture have helped to inspire her outstanding commercial, food and wedding photography.

Kelly has a special interest in the juxtaposition of images in her fine art work, using a slide sandwiching technique where she overlays various slides of similar or varying subject matters, creating fascinating and unusual textures and colors.

Another attraction for Kelly is the use of infrared films; over the last several years she has been working on perfecting the techniques of black and white infrared film, and recently has applied her knowledge to color infrared processes. The strange and unpredictable results offer her viewers an original perspective and extraordinary interpretation of seemingly ordinary subjects.

Kelly’s passions include her work, her family, her three dogs, and the great outdoors.