Keven Nelson described herself as a “79-year-old lady who has been into art since [her] children were born.” She began taking photos of her children when they were born and people told she had “a good eye.”

“It was all just for fun,” Nelson told The Bee. Now, she is the featured artist at Newtown Senior Center.

Nelson is showing her photography work. She started around 1975, took a break, and picked it up again in 1986 or so. She was photographing intermittently, but seriously started experimenting again in her retirement. In college, Nelson said she was very into silk screening. She has also found herself working with oil and cold wax recently, but has switched materials to keep costs low.

Nelson has had work featured in Mattatuck Museum, Ridgefield Guild of Artists exhibits, and created a photo essay on homelessness in New Haven.

“People say I’m a flower photographer … but I want to get away from that. I love just finding something really unusual, and maybe have people not even know what it is,” Nelson said. “I love when people express their interpretation because sometimes it’s totally not yours!”

Nelson’s show is comprised of older photos she had taken in the past. Her most recent photo is of a cupola at Fairfield Hills. The distressed paint seemed to “glisten” to Nelson, despite there not being a lot of light on it. Nelson wanted to include more photos of Fairfield Hills, but she did not have the time to go out and get more photos of the campus.

“There was a picture that I tried to capture on one of those buildings, along with the cupola, [it] wasn’t far away from that. There was broken glass and that flag, that was really cool, but it didn’t come out clear. And I’m super into clear,” Nelson explained.

She shared that she has been involved in local photography groups, but noted her work was a bit different from what the others were depicting. Nelson said that she likes to photograph decaying things, which flowers tend to lend themselves to.

When asked about her process, Nelson was reluctant to discuss. She admitted that she uses her iPhone camera to take photos now, noting how the device has opened up photography to everyday people.

“I gave away all my big cameras when I saw what they could do,” Nelson said. She hoped that the admission might inspire someone else to start photographing with their smartphone, too. “They’re displayed in local, prestigious shows, but I get them developed at CVS and Walgreens.”

Nelson just wrapped up the Bedlam show for Ridgefield Guild of Artists and is excited to work on a special piece for America250. The prompt is “your interpretation of the flag,” and the pieces will be put together as a collage for Ridgefield Historical Society. She gave The Bee an inside look into her plan, but readers will have to wait to see the finished project.

Nelson wants to get comfortable with street photography. She explained that she was a little “petrified” while working on her photo essay on homelessness in New Haven because a lot of the people she worked with thought she was a “nark.” Nelson said that she wants to practice in Danbury and use an approach she saw someone else do, which is start a conversation with the photo subject and build a rapport to create a more “natural and relaxed kind of atmosphere.”

Nelson thinks having her work at Newtown Senior Center is “pretty cool.” She actually approached senior center staff and inquired about displaying her art and was glad that Sharman Wheatley, Senior Center showcase organizer, accepted her work and moved forward with putting it up.

“Right now, in our political climate, you need to see beauty, interest, and something that is going to bring you joy, and not bring you down to a negative space,” Nelson said. Her work is on display right now at Newtown Senior Center through June.

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.