Keegan Allen is a 30-year-old actor/singer/songwriter, but most importantly, he is a photographer. (You may recognize him from Pretty Little Liars, in which he plays the controversial but always kind character Toby). He may have lots of experience and fame with his other talents, but it is his photography that sticks with him every day as he aspires to create more and more beautiful things.
In Keegan’s book life.love.beauty, he focuses mainly on people and landscapes. As he is famous for his acting, his book also acts as a biography, and we are guided through his life in picture form in the section titled “life.” The middle and end of the book, however, are named “love” and “beauty,” and these are not based around him and his personal life but the things he has seen along the way — things he has found interesting or aesthetically pleasing. These sections feature more of a free, artsy style of pictures.
Although most of his pictures have a natural feel to them, a lot of them are black and white. He does this to make them stand out a bit more and maximize depth. The black and white images tend to look more sophisticated and carry more meaning. He utilizes light, rarely changing the light he is given because he prefers to capture things the way they are rather than putting a picture together like some other photographers may do (designing scenes and outfits, etc.). Keegan also included some poetry and descriptions in his book so that readers are opened up to the meaning behind certain images and can feel the same way he did when he captured them.
life.love.beauty is one of my favorite books. It sits out on my bookshelf with the soft cover taken off, as I love the brown hardcover casing with his signature printed (I was fortunate enough to meet him this year and have his signature on one of the first few pages too). I recommend getting your hands on this book, whether you’ve heard of Keegan or not. It has inspired me to take more photographs and even to travel. His talent needs to be recognized, and buying his book shows your support. You can find it here.
Another treat is his new book, Hollywood. It doesn’t come out until next year, but you can pre-order it here. I cannot wait, and I have a feeling it’s going to be even bigger than his first!