Nº23 : KASEY
As many of our long-time readers may know, we not only feature the next best. But we work with a group of freelance photographers, artists, and journalists. They do have a great story to tell as they are fighting for their ways in their respective fields. Kasey is one of the many we have worked with on tons of projects. Every project we task her, she would come in very excited and ready to give her best. In the past years, we have seen her growth and she has exceeded her brand KASINATOR PHOTOGRAPHY, into a successful business. Giving her supporters a chance to purchase some of her photography on t-shirts and totes her work ethos is something to be admired. Having her sit down with us to share her story was an honor, especially knowing where she was and who she is now. Very interesting how our past can mold us into the gems we are today.
Tell us about yourself, how did you get into photography? How have you been able to build yourself and your brand to what it is now?
I got into photography as a kid. It felt natural to hold a camera all the time so I’d bring a disposable on the last day of school and take photos of all my classmates and I’d go around the school asking if people would let me take their pictures. It wasn’t something I ever thought I would be able to accomplish because it just seemed like fun, not a career choice. Since finding my niche as a kid, I then experimented with polaroids, 110 and 35mm film and I made photo collages with all of the ideas I had. I used them as my cover for my binders for school, my corkboard at home and I eventually turned them into personalized vision/manifestation/memory boards without even knowing how much of an impact it would have on my life in the future.
When I went away to college at Penn State University I didn’t think of the camera at all. I just started taking party photos and would get called to shoot for my friends who would play basketball in the gym. So I became the “personal” photographer. Someone everyone could call and I’d be there. I created a Tumblr so the “bad photos” wouldn’t be all over Facebook and that was it. It was a visual diary. A place I could put what I love out into the world without judgment and I think everyone respected my work for that.
From the beginning stages, I didn’t have much mentorship in what I wanted to do with photography. I was always just doing, not fully seeing or creating anything that was at the level I do now. I just treated the camera as a point and shoot POV until I started and had to think critically when I went to the School of Visual Arts. There was when I found my voice and found out who I was as an artist. A documentary photographer that used the camera as a visual diary, a way to say what was there without the words. It was the first time I started to respect myself and my work as an artist. The first time I was able to understand what my visual voice was as well. And when I finally honed in on that voice by having two amazing teachers Jenny Williams and Ellen Wallenstein also mentor me, they both said the same thing...document The Bronx.
“Not everything needs to be seen as art, not everyone will understand it. But I will keep making it for the sake of having created something.”
The brand itself grew into something more than what I ever expected. At first, it came from a place of anger and passion to have my voice heard. I wasn’t appreciated as an artist and as a woman from a group of Bronx entrepreneurs who I started working with. They didn’t value my time or efforts, they only wanted my style and my visual voice and I was sick of them using me. I wanted to make my brand better and more genuine than theirs. I wanted to start making my name from a place of hurt. And in the beginning, my priorities weren’t straight, I still worried so much about them and how I wanted to be bigger. But I needed to put in that work as well which I noticed I wasn’t, I was only becoming like them. So I started with Tote Bags with two of my “iconic” photos from my time at SVA. And from there the response was amazing. I had people really love the genuine aspect of the brand, my own photography and what it was really saying. Since the rise of Gentrification in The Bronx was happening at the time as well, I decided to use that passion and voice to say things in response, not negatively but thought-provoking. And I gained more success than just stamping the phrase “The Bronx” on everything and calling it a brand. I gained respect from my storytelling.
In this world where people are getting into that field, how do you keep yourself grounded and constantly inspired?
Honestly, I REALLY try to stay off of Social Media because I get this feeling that other people are working more than I am and that I’m not doing as much as I should as an artist because I’m wasting time. And while I’m not easily influenced, I hate seeing so many images happening at once because then I feel like I’ll subconsciously take someone’s work or copy in some way. So I like to be inspired by my own surroundings and ideas so that I don’t feel I need to compete with anyone else at this time. I’ve dealt with so many people who have tried to tell me that what I’m doing isn’t the right time, especially when I was making Zines, I had friends who I thought were supportive tell me “How could you expect people to buy that from you?” When actually I was ahead of the game and I didn’t let their comments affect my moments at that time. Yeah, they discouraged me but I still put the work out there regardless to prove everyone wrong.
What motivates your creativity?
For a while, I dealt with depression and suicidal thoughts that really affected who I was. But I never lost sight of what I wanted to be. And I think that constant internal fight to keep going is what never stopped me from letting go of my dreams and always working on getting out of the rut I was in. Using art was always an escape for me. Knowing that I have a gift that is different from others motivates me into the next day even when I didn’t feel like being alive the next day. Being an artist has always been my driving force. And the fact that my mom has always allowed my creativity and giving me that space to dye my hair and get piercings and let me cut up magazines and just take random photos is something that I think about now too. Honing in on my inner child who loved to just create without even deeming it as “art” is something that I keep on thinking about and allowing to let it guide me now. Not everything needs to be seen as an art, not everyone will understand it. But I will keep making it for the sake of having created something.
What does it mean to be a woman in this industry that seems to be male-dominated?
Right now it means A LOT. Being a woman in this time is amazing, I’m not even going to lie. At first, I had my issues with understanding why men take advantage of women, especially in the industry. But it’s all about power moves. The idea of control. And when I finally learned how to have that energy and what it means to use it, I learned how to utilize it in the correct way. I started to empower the women around me after going to a Women’s Empowerment Summit at Lehman College in March of 2018. I decided from there that I never had that tribe of women besides my immediate family, and I was going to start letting those women around me know that they are loved, they can do whatever their dreams desired, and can make it.
Right now I myself am on the journey of motherhood. While everyone is telling me how hard it is and how scary it is, I’ve had more people tell me that I won’t be able to continue my dreams of being an artist with a child. I’m here to prove that. To anyone following after me to believe that they can achieve their goals as well. In every sense they don’t tell men to choose a family over a career, they’re allowed and expected to do both with ease, while the woman can only be seen as done one over the other. And when she chooses or states that she can do both the Negative Nancys all come out to say their opinions. It’s tough for me right now in a way... to try and prove these people wrong, whether it be friends or family, but I also need to keep proving to myself that I am right in my decision making. I will overcome this and I will be able to make my life and my child’s life more fulfilled.
Statistics now show that Women entrepreneurs have the leading companies in a tizzy because they are becoming more successful and have something that companies that are only said to be male-dominated, compassion and also more drive. As an entrepreneur who thought I’d always be dealing with “the man’s world” is now ready to take on so much more because I feel that I can change so much, especially in the industry. I’m ready to bring The Bronx up with me, as well as more women of color and myself in this new age of women taking over.
You’ve evolved your brand to more than just photography, how is that helping you build your clientele?
I think people always assume that you need to be a one-trick pony. I’m always placed in this box if I can only do one, and since I don’t like that or allow that I always end up surprising people. Right now Kasinator Visuals isn’t just trying to be a one-trick pony either. I want to sell goods AND services to everyone I can. This year along I have had more women as customers because we are all on this wave of support. I’ve had the most popular shirt I’ve made “Your Favorite BX Mami” a hit because it resonates with all women from The Bronx, no matter what you do here. It’s something I would call myself and making a shirt out of it seemed so surreal and I had the nay-sayers thinking I couldn’t do it, but I did. Instead of making it about other women of The Bronx like Jennifer Lopez and Cardi B, I’m backing off my own statements and feelings that like them I’m “popping” and nothing can stop me. [I’m all the way up] *laughs*-- you know I had to include Remy Ma in there too. I want the people of the Bronx to feel empowered, no matter what. We deserve that much respect as any other borough in New York City.
What woman entrepreneur or woman in your life would you say you’ve used as a source of inspiration?
To be completely honest, I didn’t know of any personal women entrepreneurs until I started focusing on them after the past two years. I never had that source of inspiration and motivation that I could do what I wanted. But now I’m inspired by many, more of my peers in The Bronx art scene, many of them are amazing artists that just so happen to be women like myself!
My mother Lisa, and my aunt Margaret are two women who have helped me keep going. They’ve invested in my dreams and when I’ve been low on money to get the equipment or anything I need, both women have been there for me to help me out financially as well. It took a while I think to have them truly understand that this [being a visual artist] is what I wanted to do and that I wouldn’t quit. They’ve been supportive in my journey now for Graduate School at LIM College and now even more in my journey to motherhood. As a teenager, I didn’t understand some of the things my mom did or why she was so strict on me, but I know it was for my own good. But it’s not like she didn’t give me creative freedom as a kid either. She bought me my first film camera when I was 3 years old and showed me how to take photos. I don’t think she understood the effect it would have on my whole life, but she’s extremely proud of where it has led me in my life.
I was raised by strong women, and the level of love and respect that I have for any woman who can raise children single, like I will be doing myself, and like my grandmother and great grandmother has shown me that I am not alone in anything I am doing. There’s strength in numbers and they tell you “it takes a village” and I am the one that truly stands by that. One day in elementary school we had a class where they had statistics on two-parent homes compared to single-parent homes, and unfortunately the “bad” was considered one parent. At the time I raised my hand and said “that’s not true” out of anger, and the teacher then stated that it was based on “facts,” I then said well my mom raises me alone and I’m not a bad kid and I think I embarrassed the teacher, but standing up for my mom felt like everything because I know she sacrificed many things to even have me as a 21-year-old. My mom went back to college and even Nursing School all while having me. Some days I would even go to class with her and just sit down and listen -- that’s where my love of school came from -- and people would be shocked a 3-4-year-old could sit still and not bother anyone else around them. I helped her study for her tests by letting her use me as her anatomy subject, and I even learned about the bones and insides before I understood why we even have them. To see my mom walk the stage and graduate felt like watching a superhero get a reward for saving the city. And to be a part of her journey made me feel just as incredible. I don’t think she knows how much I appreciate her strength in never giving up and letting the world swallow her whole.
Margie is an intelligent self-sufficient woman to do everything for her family. I always loved and admired Margie’s independence. She will always be the one that says “you can’t expect someone else to do things for you.” And it’s true. I use her as a source of inspiration when I truly need it because she is so strong. During the last few years of my grandmother’s life, she made sure my grandma was taken care of by the best doctors and staff at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, she even went as far as staying with my grandma day and night so that she wouldn’t be there alone and scared. And that amount of love and care is what I want to do for any of my family during their time of need. Margie is the epitome of a woman who chases the bag but doesn’t let anyone chase her, because she knows what she wants. She’s that aunt that doesn’t have children but loves all of her Godchildren and nieces and nephews like if they were her own, and you don’t see that often. I’ve never seen so much love and strength radiate off of one person the way I do with Margie. She is the reason I love Classic Rock like The Eagles and Queen. She’s funny and quick with the comebacks and I knew that if I ever wanted to be like any woman in the world I’d be just like Margie.
One mistake you’ve made in the past that help you right now?
The mistakes I’ve made were finding male artists in any field of art and date them and feel that they might be more understanding to me as an artist when in reality they had no clue as to what I needed to be nourished as an artist. I was always the one taking care of them and having their dreams and ideas put forward and put myself on the back burner and think that by helping someone else they’d, in turn, help me grow. And that was the worst thing I could have done for myself. I think that had I been more understanding of my own growth I would be doing a lot more for myself and my brand and have people see that I was always doing something, but it always just ended up me being the girlfriend that made them look good.
I have dated horrible guys. Rappers with no real original flow, and those “sensitive” artists that need the “sadness” to work for them, all because I saw their potential and not my own. My last relationship was with a music producer/DJ who left the relationship because he then decided when he “found a better opportunity,” he let me know after a year of dating that he was going to move away and basically leave me behind for the better good of his art and lifestyle. At the time I didn’t know I was carrying his baby, which is even more fucked up, because we have no communication whatsoever. And while we made moves to have a family, he wasn’t ever really ready -- it was all talk. But if only I had tapped into my own potential and not helped him find him, I would have made smarter moves within my career and pushed myself harder. Maybe I wouldn’t be on my way to motherhood, but the journey is different for everyone. And I made the best decision for myself as a woman. Now with my child on the way, I am still going to be a photographer, an entrepreneur, an artist, a graduate with a Masters of Professional Studies, and now the new title Mother...I will do everything now not just for myself but now for my son or daughter and make sure I never stop pushing myself for the betterment of our lives. And with all those mistakes that I’ve made in the past, I have the tools to continue to correct and create more of my future. Because the best art project I could have made in my life will come to fruition this Summer.
“I will do everything not just for myself but now for my son and make sure I never stop pushing myself for the betterment of our lives. And with all those mistakes that I’ve made in the past, I have the tools to continue to correct and create more of my future. The best art project I could have made in my life will come to fruition this summer.”
How do you deal with the stresses of the world to create new projects?
I try every day to not let things get to me. It’s tough, it really is. I go to therapy. My therapist feels like my best friend in a weird way that I can’t wait to talk to him at our sessions because he’s an outside force that can give me objective conversations instead of feeling like my feelings will overwhelm him or make him biased or hurt his feelings. Without therapy, for the past year and a half, I don’t think I would have gotten through the death of my grandmother in November of 2017 and what felt like the death of myself at that time.
I now do things that make me happy and excited about my creativity that doesn’t just feel like work but feels like making and creating art. He’s encouraged me to make art that heals me, not takes away from me. And that’s something that I appreciate more now. The idea that I can get through the shit I’m dealing with by escaping to my art world. It’s hard to come up with so many original ideas, and people also copy them too and don’t say that I’ve been an inspiration to their makings. Which is annoying as hell but I already knew I was a lowkey trendsetter. In due time that will come, but making sure I’ve overcome that little bit of darkness that still lingers is an everyday battle and will always be.
The advice you would give to young women trying to build their portfolio in photography?
Yes, DO NOT LET ANYONE TELL YOU OTHERWISE! That is my biggest thing. Ask for help or let someone know an idea, but NEVER let them sway your decision on actually going for it because you won’t know unless you actually try it. I have had many people tell me not to do things, but I’ve never let that stop me. Keep shooting, keep creating, keep feeling yourself and never lose the spark because people who truly believe in you will never make you dim your light. I’ve learned that a lot from friends to family members. And while yes it will hurt, you just get back up on the horse and keep riding because you won’t learn unless you keep trying.
Another big rule is to not be pressured by the men in this industry. There are too many men making the same kind of work out here that swear they are Zeus with a camera, paintbrush, music equipment, etc. No, I’m sorry you’re not a God and your work can be compared to many others. Take the time out to find your creative style and how you choose to make your visual narratives. Don’t let the men in this industry feel as if they’re better than you because half of them have mediocre work that really doesn’t say much. Find your true voice without letting anyone make you feel as if they are better than you. You succeed by using blinders, not letting anyone stop you from being you. Continue in that race -- it will only make you stronger.