Cassilyn Anderson: From Fangirl to Concert Photographer

Cassilyn Anderson is more than just a photographer. When she picks up the camera and shoots a show, she is fulfilling two duties. In the composition, lighting and precision of editing, she is a dynamite photographer. However, in her vision, execution and passion, she is (like so many others at the shows she shoots) a fan.

“It all falls back on being such a big fan of different bands growing up and putting myself in the shoes of those fans.”

“When I was 12 years old, I started to develop my own music taste … and one of the bands that I found was One Direction,” Anderson sheepishly admits. “With One Direction, I fell into the fangirl phase, and when I was 14, I started to think about how it’s somebody’s job to just take photos of bands, and from there it just spiraled on.”

Anderson’s passion for photography and music combined perfectly for her profession. “Live music has always been really interesting to me and strikes more emotion than other types of photography did for me,” she says. “Everything from seeing a crew put on a show … and getting to see all these hardworking people coming together … The bands, their performances and the fans all coming from different backgrounds — getting to capture that has been beautiful.” She continues, “It all falls back on being such a big fan of different bands growing up and putting myself in the shoes of those fans.”

“I started to think about how it’s somebody’s job to just take photos of bands, and from there it just spiraled on.”

Anderson says that the pipeline from fan to industry insider is inevitable, and her recent tour with Cage the Elephant couldn’t be better proof. “I felt like I was plateauing … and was on the verge of getting rid of all of my cameras and received an email about photographing [Cage the Elephant’s] show in Salt Lake … At first I thought it was a scam, but it was just the universe throwing me a bone and showing me I am on the right path,” Anderson says. “I worked with them at that Salt Lake City show, and they liked me enough that they asked me to come to Seattle with them that weekend … It was wonderful to work with a band that I had admired for a decade. They were one of the bands that I had found during that time where I had started discovering my own music.”

“People may say photography is an oversaturated industry, [but] no one’s eye is going to be the same as the next person’s.”

Anderson’s experience knowing the band as a fan before being a photographer helped her foster a passion for showing the strong relationship between a band and the fans there to see them. “When I shoot, I put an emphasis … on the fact that this is a historical moment, and I want to tell the story of this show,” she says when I ask what sets her apart from other photographers. “As a fan, you don’t experience all 30 shows on a tour.” In her work, Cassilyn says that she puts a deep emphasis on the experience of the fan. Capturing those moments of connection is what truly drives her to shoot the way she does.

“At first I thought it was a scam, but it was just the universe throwing me a bone and showing me I am on the right path.”

A picture is worth a thousand words, as the old saying goes, but when I ask what word is the most important, Anderson says it’s timing. Timing is what made the photo that she may be the proudest of: “Brad [Shultz] had jumped into the crowd, and it was him singing ‘Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked’ with the crowd … You have the crowd surrounding him in the middle, and these people who had paid so much money to see their favorite artist … who had waited so long, getting to sing one of [their] favorite songs with their favorite artist, it’s just such a crazy experience.”

If there is one thing she wants to impart upon the wider community of creatives, Anderson says it is this: “There is so much room for your art, no matter who you are. People may say photography is an oversaturated industry, [but] no one’s eye is going to be the same as the next person’s. It is so important to make your art and put your art out there.” If you’d like to see some of Cassilyn’s work, follow her at @cass.ilyn on Instagram.

Read more features on local photographers:
Jessie Carlton: Bridal Photographer by Day, Concert Documentarian by Night
Ryan Mayfield: Experimenting With Perception