Kelly Nolan has a lot of friends, and she has had them for a long time, and they love her dearly. Everyone says she is a great friend, and that doesn’t surprise me. I feel like she’s a great friend of mine, and I love taking her picture – she is a strong and loving person, and a strong woman, comfortable with herself and full of the spirit of love.

I am astonished every week at the grace and ease with which she tends a busy bar and handles a busy restaurant all by herself and all at the same time. She pours the drinks, runs the cash register, takes the orders, clears the tables, brings the food, writes the checks, checks on the customers.

Kelly is warm and patient, but I am not fooled by that radiant smile. Underneath there is a spirit of steel and strength. She has managed the very difficult act of grace.

The photo bombs are a chance for her friends to enter the portrait once in awhile, and this is fitting, because they are so much a part of her life. Their affectionate for her, and hers for them is so genuine, it is joy to capture it on film.