Treats! Magazine Issue Twelve | Page 62
GET TAKEN AWAY
BY TONY KELLY
Every Stormtrooper dreams of relaxing poolside with a
amazing fit. “What entertains me is humor, and when humor
beautiful nude woman. Or so one would imagine after looking
can cross with female nudes, it’s a refreshing result.” Kelly
at one particular image shot by photographer Tony Kelly. In it,
had been so bored with most nude photography. “They just
a white-armored minion of Darth Vader romantically rests his
put this girl against a white wall,” he groans. “I wanted to do
arm around the waist of a tall, high-heeled model as the two
something lively, something different.” Taken! is the product
stare into the bright blue horizon, surveying their city below.
of Kelly’s efforts. “The book features my sense of humor, my
It’s this combination of splashy color, quirky sense of humor,
signature twist,” he says. “Like a lemon in a martini.”
and unabashed sex appeal that makes Tony Kelly’s latest
Taken!, released in winter 2016, features both archival
book, Taken!, a celebration of pleasure in all of its forms.
and new work shot specifically for the book. It’s a summery,
Born in Dublin, Kelly actually began as a photojournalist
energetic antidote to cold weather blahs (especially since
with the United Kingdom’s Independent Newspaper Group.
one of his models for Taken! is sun goddess Charlotte
His assignments took him to cover heavy subjects like the
McKinney) with polished yet subversive images in
devastating civil war in Rwanda and the war in Afghanistan.
motifs of travel, luxury relaxation, and lust peppering its
It was a life that, according to the photographer’s management
pages. In the book, one model lies nude on a pizza float
company Copious, made Kelly unafraid of “emotions or
in a vibrant aqua swimming pool, knees tilted ever so
flesh.” After observing such darkness, it’s
coquettishly. Another leans powerfully in
no surprise Kelly switched his focus to
the doorway of an airplane, a backdrop of
something a little lighter, like fashion and
black highlighting her slim figure bronzed
celebrity photography.
from the sun. One more lies facedown on a
Which brings us to today. Kelly’s clients
towel, a shadow of an airplane coming in for
have included not just publications like
a landing on her bare back just above a pert,
Vanity Fair, Vogue, GQ, and treats!, but
round derrière. “It’s about having fun,” Kelly
brands like BMW, Steve Madden, and Custo
says. “It’s about enjoyment.”
Barcelona. These days, he does mostly fine art
In Kelly’s luxury dreamscape, you’d be
photography, some of which is displayed on
happy just to be there for a moment, ecstatic
his website Tony Kelly World, but his vibrant
to live there for the rest of your life. His
style is ever present. “The first thing I look for
photography is the kind of work that makes
in an image is whether or not it entertains me,”
you want to meet the man and shake his
©
TAKEN!
ENTERTAINING
NUDES
Kelly says. So when he was asked to do a book
hand, then also hate yourself for not having
BY TONY K ELLY, PUBLISHED BY
of “entertaining nudes” for teNeues, it was an
TENEUES, $ 65, WWW.TENEUES.COM
thought of it first.
62
treatsmagazine.com
RESERVED.
WORDS ELYSSA GOODMAN