Monster Children recently caught up with Photographer Brian Kelley. Check out a preview of the interview below, and click here to read more.

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EG: Tell the people who you are.

BK: My name is Brian Kelley and I’m a Brooklyn-based photographer. I’m from a small town in upstate New York and have been living in New York City since 2006.

What happened in 2006 that brought you to New York City?

I came here to study photography at SVA (School of Visual Arts).

Now being a grown man in the working life hustle, do you feel like your SVA education is a valuable asset?

That’s tough to answer. Yeah, I do, but I know that you don’t need to go to school to become a photographer. I feel like my education brought me to the city, where I knew that if I failed in my studies, I’d have to move back to my small town home. That made me work hard, I suppose, because school was my ticket out of town. But I don’t think school is the reason I am where I am with photography.

So you were more schooled in life skills and trained in responsibility at SVA, rather than learning how to take a photograph properly?

Yeah. That’s pretty accurate. I wasn’t exposed to anything relevant in our culture before I moved here. I didn’t really know about photography or freelancing or how the skateboard industry worked.