Mike Kelley

Mike Kelley is a Los Angeles-based artist and photographer. Originally from Ipswich, Massachusetts, he studied studio art and environmental science at the University of Vermont before moving to California and pursuing a career in photography in 2009. Kelley’s clients include numerous airlines and airports, and his work has been featured in many publications including BBC, CNN, Fast Company, European Photography magazine, and Fortune magazine.

Mike was named one of the 200 Best Ad Photographers Worldwide 2016/17 by Luerzer’s Archive and his images have been named Digital Camera World’s Best Images of 2014. His Wake Turbulence image was selected as the cover image of Gestalten’s ‘PhotoViz’ book, and other images have been featured in Assouline’s ‘The Art of Travel’ book.

A self proclaimed “aviation enthusiast”, Mike has travelled extensively to photograph airplanes and major airports throughout the world. His Airportraits series utilize multiple exposures to illustrate our busy skies with an accuracy that cannot be achieved in a single photograph. In this way, the images reveal the social and economic importance of aviation and invite us to contemplate the scale of the only worldwide transportation network. His series LA Airsp...

2021: MUCEM, Marseilles: Civilization, The Way we Live Now, Airportraits
2021: Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design (ArkDes): Stockholm Design Lab, Airportraits
2020: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki: Civilization, The Way we Live Now, Airportraits
2020: Museum of Design, Zurich: Knowledge in Images – Information Design Today, Airportraits
2019: Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing: Civilization, The Way we Live Now, Airportraits
2018: Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, SK: Civilization, The Way we Live Now, Airportraits
2018: Nordic Museum, Seattle: Innovations in Icelandic Design, Architecture of Iceland
2018: AIA LA Honor Award: Architectural Photography, LA Airspace
2018: Auckland Airport, Airportraits, Solo Exhibit, International Terminal
2017: OUE Skyspace, Los Angeles: LA Airspace
2017: SFO Museum: Solo Exhibit, Airportraits
2015: AIA LA: Solo Exhibit, The Architecture of Iceland
2014: A+D Museum: Groundswell