Kiely Sweatt, American Poet

Square Format, Old-School Soul

This wasn’t the shot the magazine wanted—it was mine. A stubborn nod to my medium format film days, framed tight in a square, because some subjects demand symmetry. The camera’s flexibility let me play with ratios, but my heart belongs to the square. It’s the photographic equivalent of a sonnet: constrained, deliberate, and quietly rebellious.

Stripes, Spots, and Subverting Expectations

Fashion rules would’ve balked at the clash of stripes and polka dots. Good thing poetry thrives on breaking rules. Kiely’s outfit was a visual haiku—unexpected, a little chaotic, perfectly her. We wanted a portrait divorced from her Poetry Brothel persona (yes, that’s a thing—more on that later). No corsets, no smoky allure—just sharp light, a soft fill flash, and her quiet intensity cutting through the pattern riot.

The Slow Burn of a Personal Project

Kiely runs The Poetry Brothel, where verse meets vaudeville. One conversation in, and I was hooked. Now I’m scheming a long-term project: capturing her and her literary renegades over time, like a slow-cooked exposé. Magazines might want one-and-done shots, but there’s magic in the unhurried chase—watching how light, and personas, shift.