Kyle Cassidy
Encyclopedia
Kyle Cassidy, born in Woodbury, New Jersey
, is an American photographer and videographer who lives in West Philadelphia
. He holds a BA in English from Rowan University
, and also holds an MCSE. His latest book is "Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes". He is a frequent lecturer on topics of art
, culture
, visual imagery, virtual communities, marketing
, and technology
.
. Cassidy followed up with Stickman's Way Cool Guide to Network Wizardry which used stick figure illustrations and humor to bring a technical subject to a popular audience.
Cassidy published two additional technology books, The Concise Guide to Enterprise Internetworking and Security and Introduction to Windows 2000 Network Administration. Cassidy also co-wrote the paper "Can You Trust Your Email?" in 1993, warning of a flaw in the protocol used to deliver email which could allow information to be forged. The flaw wasn't addressed in time contributing to the rise of spam
as a multimillion-dollar industry.
and blogging software, the project changed into more frequent photographs. In 2008, there were approximately 20,000 daily viewers. A 2007 Washington Post article cited it as popular with their staff photographers.
His photographic subjects are known for flights of fancy and a distinct sense of humor. In them, laws of nature are applied inconsistently; people and objects are often levitating, and non sequiturs, whimsy, and cryptozoological intrusions are common. "I think the world in my photographs is a lot darker in many ways than the real world that people insulate themselves in, but it's also a lot funnier. My world is malevolent but humorous, as opposed to the real world which is malevolent and relentless, but is often packaged in a friendly box and rabbit ears," he said in a 2004 interview with A.D. Amorosi in the October issue of Art Matters. His images often explore themes of "truth" and "fiction". This culminated in his July 2006 show "Lies" at the Sol gallery in Philadelphia. "Photography," he says in the artists statement for that show "is about lies just as much as it is about the truth."
When he lends his eye to serious subjects it takes on even more gravity. His work with cutters and homeless orphans presaged his 2004 fascination with American gun owners which led to the critically acclaimed book, Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes, which provided a unique view into the lives of a culture mysterious to some and ordinary to others. Praised by both advocates of gun control and gun ownership, the book made an exceptional splash and made Cassidy a photographer to watch. It was named by Amazon as both one of the ten best art books of 2007, and as one of the 100 best books of 2007.
, punks
, cutters
, politician
s, metalheads, dominatrices
, author
s and scholars in addition to less prosaic subjects. In recent years his projects have extended abroad to Romania
, where he captured the lives of homeless orphans living in sewers; and to Egypt
, where he reported on contemporary archaeological excavations.
. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Barron's Magazine
, Photographers Forum, Asleep by Dawn, Gothic Beauty
and numerous other
publications.
Woodbury, New Jersey
Woodbury is a city in Gloucester County, New Jersey, in the United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, 10,307 residents were counted. Woodbury is the county seat of Gloucester County....
, is an American photographer and videographer who lives in West Philadelphia
West Philadelphia
West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though there is no official definition of its boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Line Avenue to the northwest, Cobbs Creek to the southwest, and...
. He holds a BA in English from Rowan University
Rowan University
Rowan University is a public university in Glassboro, New Jersey, USA with a satellite campus in Camden, New Jersey. The school was founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a twenty-five acre tract of land donated by the town...
, and also holds an MCSE. His latest book is "Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes". He is a frequent lecturer on topics of art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
, visual imagery, virtual communities, marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
, and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
.
Contributions to technology
In 1993 Cassidy wrote Saturn: A Beginners Guide to Using the Internet in response to a growing desire among the public to use the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. Cassidy followed up with Stickman's Way Cool Guide to Network Wizardry which used stick figure illustrations and humor to bring a technical subject to a popular audience.
Cassidy published two additional technology books, The Concise Guide to Enterprise Internetworking and Security and Introduction to Windows 2000 Network Administration. Cassidy also co-wrote the paper "Can You Trust Your Email?" in 1993, warning of a flaw in the protocol used to deliver email which could allow information to be forged. The flaw wasn't addressed in time contributing to the rise of spam
E-mail spam
Email spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email , is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email. Definitions of spam usually include the aspects that email is unsolicited and sent in bulk. One subset of UBE is UCE...
as a multimillion-dollar industry.
Contributions to photography
Cassidy is commonly attributed with inventing photo-blogging with his "Photo-a-Week" project which let viewers into his life on a weekly basis starting on January 1, 2000. With the advent of digital photographyDigital photography
Digital photography is a form of photography that uses an array of light sensitive sensors to capture the image focused by the lens, as opposed to an exposure on light sensitive film...
and blogging software, the project changed into more frequent photographs. In 2008, there were approximately 20,000 daily viewers. A 2007 Washington Post article cited it as popular with their staff photographers.
His photographic subjects are known for flights of fancy and a distinct sense of humor. In them, laws of nature are applied inconsistently; people and objects are often levitating, and non sequiturs, whimsy, and cryptozoological intrusions are common. "I think the world in my photographs is a lot darker in many ways than the real world that people insulate themselves in, but it's also a lot funnier. My world is malevolent but humorous, as opposed to the real world which is malevolent and relentless, but is often packaged in a friendly box and rabbit ears," he said in a 2004 interview with A.D. Amorosi in the October issue of Art Matters. His images often explore themes of "truth" and "fiction". This culminated in his July 2006 show "Lies" at the Sol gallery in Philadelphia. "Photography," he says in the artists statement for that show "is about lies just as much as it is about the truth."
When he lends his eye to serious subjects it takes on even more gravity. His work with cutters and homeless orphans presaged his 2004 fascination with American gun owners which led to the critically acclaimed book, Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes, which provided a unique view into the lives of a culture mysterious to some and ordinary to others. Praised by both advocates of gun control and gun ownership, the book made an exceptional splash and made Cassidy a photographer to watch. It was named by Amazon as both one of the ten best art books of 2007, and as one of the 100 best books of 2007.
Background
Cassidy has been documenting American culture for more than two decades. He has photographed gothsGoth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
, punks
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
, cutters
Cutter (body modification)
A cutter is an underground practitioner who performs voluntary surgical or quasi-surgical procedures that formal medical practitioners are unwilling or legally or ethically unable to perform. The procedures may be illegal in the particular jurisdiction in which they are performed, or of...
, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
s, metalheads, dominatrices
Dominatrix
Dominatrix or mistress is a woman or women who takes the dominant role in bondage, discipline and sadomasochism, or BDSM. A common form of address for a submissive to a dominatrix is "mistress", "ma'am", "domina" or "maîtresse"...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
s and scholars in addition to less prosaic subjects. In recent years his projects have extended abroad to Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, where he captured the lives of homeless orphans living in sewers; and to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, where he reported on contemporary archaeological excavations.
Published work
His publications include several books on information technology, as well as a regular appearance as contributing editor for Videomaker MagazineVideomaker Magazine
Videomaker is a magazine publication dedicated to video production. The magazine's publisher/editor, Matthew York, founded the publication with his wife Patrice York, Associate Publisher, to "empower people to make video and to democratize and enrich television."-Overview :When Videomaker started...
. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Barron's Magazine
Barron's Magazine
Barron's is an American weekly newspaper covering U.S. financial information, market developments, and relevant statistics. Each issue provides a wrap-up of the previous week's market activity, news reports, and an informative outlook on the week to come....
, Photographers Forum, Asleep by Dawn, Gothic Beauty
Gothic Beauty
Gothic Beauty is an American magazine established by editor Steven Holiday in the fall of 2000 after the success of the Internet social group of the same name. Gothic Beauty covers numerous aspects of underground culture including fashion, music, events and various forms of entertainment...
and numerous other
publications.
External links
- Underwood, Erin (21 March 2011). "Interstitiality within Photography: an interview with Kyle Cassidy. The Interstitial Art Institute.
- "Kyle Cassidy: The Unpredictable Eye: Part 1". The Leica Camera Blog (21 January 2011).
- "Kyle Cassidy: The Unpredictable Eye: Part 2". The Leica Camera Blog (5 February 2011).