Byron Kelly, long-time laborer with local 860 in Cleveland, enjoys creating life-size caricatures of people we all know, love and hate and, also, original characters that come from his imagination. His work can border on effigy and can become that as well, whether admired or abhorred. This array of pictures was taken between 2007 and 2011, when Byron and his family lived on East 94th Street.
Living with an entire family in a unit in a Cleveland four-banger apartment requires work on the characters be done outside, and the basement, where many are stored. Byron’s extensive experience with working with materials by hand really contribute to his success. When we first met he was just getting off a long job, relining a blast furnace in there Flats, where the mills still exist. Mixing labor, both as a way to pay for his art and as a way to do his art, that is, to say, in a blue-collar way, down, dirty and with your hands under the direction of your mind. I can relate.
Every Christmas i try to find a fine example of home-made or funky Christmas decorations on the homes in Cleveland. In 2007 i shot this apartment building on East 94th and got to know the creator, Byron Kelly.
One of Byron’s original characters was Seymour the picture man, that he made for me. Seymour was modeled after a Jewish polaroid street photographer,
Obviously Halloween was the night, in a city, where every day is Halloween, and, celebrated heavily in working-class or ghetto fashion, and, there are four halloweens shot here, as well as, shots between holidays hanging out with Byron and his family who appear in these pictures – his wife, Delores, sons, daughters and grandchildren, etc. It’s a big thing locally, and, they, too, are in these shots enjoying, what is a ton of work, all good, put out for a free, exciting experience, while still in the hood, and, with no problems.
After the big night every year, the family still lives with Byron’s creations, especially with the basement full. When Michael Jackson died, Byrons tribute piece became part of the home’s decor.
Byron and Delores in their dining room in June, 2009.
While Byron and his family lived on East 94th i shot four years worth of Halloweens and just hanging out, until they moved to a place nearby. I arranged the shots in chronological order during the the East 94th years.
VIEW the slideshow.
