Palos Park’s Kelly White discovered the magic of photography in a darkroom when she attended college at St. Xavier.
It was in the mid 2000s and her photos of the Chicago skyline that she took were coming to life right before her eyes.
She was hooked.
She liked what she saw and the rewards of taking photos was something she did not want to keep to herself.
“I love being able to share them with other people,” White said. “When everybody looks at a photo, they interpret it their own way. People see things differently than I do.
“It’s great to be able to talk to people about it. It sparks a conversation.”
She is sharing a lot – and sparking a lot of conversation — this March.
White has a gallery “Cheers to the South Side: A South Side Irish Pub Exhibit” at the Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th St. in Chicago.
It opened March 13 and will run through the end of the month.
White is now an adjunct communication professor at SXU as well as a longtime reporter, photographer and editor for the Southwest Regional Publishing newspaper chain.
While working in the newspaper game, she has been taking news and feature photos of people and events in the area.
This project was a little different. White was asked to capture the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day and the Irish and she came up with a plan of her own, taking exteriors of beloved area bars, plus a photo of green Irish beer for the gallery.
“I went up and down Western Avenue with my camera and took a bunch of photos with my camera and played with them and liked the way they turned out,” she said. “I’m really excited about it.
“It’s like a hobby. It doesn’t feel like work. It’s fun. I’ve always wanted to have my own show. It’s random the way it happened.”
The photos are black and white with strategically placed green highlights.
“The photos are amazing,” Beverly Arts Center Matt McKinney said. “This was like a kickoff ceremony to the South Side Irish parade and that’s one of the biggest events in Chicago.
“This is one of the best ways to celebrate it.”
White grew up near Midway Airport and attended St. Bede Elementary School, Mother McAuley and Richards and has embraced the South Side culture.
“There is a lot of Irish pride and heritage on the South Side and in Beverly, I think it’s a really cool exhibit,” White said. “It hits close to home.
“I appreciate the sense of the community and the camaraderie and the South Side vibe.”