Cassidy Rose: Instant Karma
“I have a colloquialism in my little world where everybody calls me Polaroid Girl,” Cassidy Rose remarks, while discussing her penchant for using that format in the live-concert setting. The New York-based photographer also shoots with 35mm cameras, but it’s her Polaroids that have gained notoriety as of late, including a series of images taken at the Relix 50 show in January. Her participation in that event was truly fitting, as she grew up a Relix reader, and what’s more, she’s the daughter of Deadheads, who named her after two of the band’s songs.
Her predilection for instant photography began at an early age. As she recalls, “I’ve always loved cameras. My whole life, my toys have been cameras. But the first time I saw a Polaroid was in my godmother’s apartment when I was 5 years old. I have that Polaroid still—it surfaced recently. She told me to pose with her cat and my toy and said, ‘I’ll give you the photo.’ At that time, my mom had lots of film cameras and I knew you had to wait to see the photo. But now, five seconds later, it was starting to appear in front of me. To my 5-year-old eyes, it was magic. And to my 31-year-old eyes, it is magic.”
Can you recall the first show that you shot on a Polaroid?
I had a Polaroid with me at the first show I ever shot, but it was not a great success rate. My godmother was the tour manager for The Black Crowes for most of my life, and the first show I ever shot was The Black Crowes when I was 14 or 15. She was like, “I’m letting you in the pit with a photo pass. The rules are first three, no flash.” A Polaroid, at that time, had an uncontrollable flash and I had not yet learned to tape over the flash with electrical tape.
So I shot mostly with a digital camera. I got really great images, but at the time I really loved grain and I was trying to go for digital grain. So I look back at them with a lot of fondness. For a 14, 15-year-old kid, they’re great photos, but it’s not exactly what I love. I also took a Polaroid and I let the flash go off right before the last three and my godmother was displeased.
Did you continue to use a Polaroid from the pit or did it take a little while to build confidence and creative motivation?
In high school, I had a lot of friends in bands playing in basements where I could use a f lash however I wanted. So if I thought I could get away with shooting a flash, I definitely took advantage of shooting Polaroids.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t so precious about keeping the Polaroids at that time in my life. I would just give them to the bands, which I regret now, as somebody who’s a really strict archivist of everything I do. But I always had a penchant for bringing a Polaroid.
When I was at a concert and shooting in the pit, it was mostly with the digital camera for the convenience and the cost. There are eight frames to a roll of film, which means that every time I press the button, it’s $2, and if it’s a special film, it’s more. So when you’re shooting in a live setting, you really have to hope that when you’re pressing the button, your success rate is better than one out of eight.
These days, I also shoot with 35mm, where the numbers are kind of similar—while they’re making the film more affordable, the processing is really expensive. I carried a rig of two Polaroids and two 35mms for a while, but a Nikon F3 is heavy and a plastic Polaroid weighs quite a bit less. I was also struggling with the cost of a 35mm when I was doing a lot of self-funding.
As much as I love capturing the spirit of live music, I’ve also found that I really enjoy the backstage moments. That’s where you can have a flash on—while things are happening before the show or behind the scenes, like when someone’s kid comes to see them. Those are the moments that people are going to remember forever.
I’ve been fortunate to be close to a lot of different musical people and have that behind the-curtain look. Some of my earliest really good Polaroids were when I said, “Let’s get the whole band really quick with the flash before going on.” Those are the moments that people remember and there’s something to be said about the instantaneous nature of the Polaroid in that respect.
All in all, Polaroid is what feels the most magic to me. There are also a couple of photographers I really love who carry a Polaroid at a festival to try and get the one money shot. I’m such a sucker for variety that I’m like, “What if I have three Polaroids and they all have a different film and a different purpose?” Polaroid’s been really good recently about putting out good cameras and cool films. So I feel like it’s celluloid magic.
You mentioned shooting at festivals. At times, there can be a lot of aggressive energy in those photo pits, where there’s so much more competition to get the best shots. Have you found that challenging and perhaps even complicated by the fact that you’re coming in with a Polaroid where that’s not so common?
I try to approach everyone with kindness, even if somebody starts off with a “Why are you shooting with that?” mentality. I can always tell if the vibes are going to be bad but I still approach it with hope. Sometimes the security at a music festival is being told to keep the pit to a minimum, especially if people look like they’re not shooting with professional gear. In this day and age, they don’t want the pit being clogged up by people who are just using their phones or whatever.
But especially as a young woman, I’ve been told, “I can’t let you in here with just that toy.” I’ll explain, “Actually, I’m with the artist specifically to shoot with this toy.” Typically, if you approach everything with kindness, it works out. Also it pays off that I’m very short and I try and kind of let all of the toxic masculine energy shoot over me. I’m literally 4’ 11”—I’m never going to be in your way.
You described carrying multiple Polaroids with different film. One of your notable backstage shots at Relix 50 is of Mikaela Davis and Karina Rykman with a green tone to it. How did that come about?
Once a year, they put out a really special limited kind of film. There’s only one factory in the world that makes Polaroid film, so if they’re going to make a specialty film that means one of the machines that’s used for packaging and processing film is out of regular service and in commission just for that specific type of film. They package it as an experimental film type because you might not get the images you want, but if they ever are marketing anything like that, it’s exactly what I want. 2024’s film was called Reclaimed Green because they took black and white film that otherwise would’ve been deemed no good because of a chemical problem and fixed that with some sort of green paste.
I was limited to purchasing 12 packs of this film, so that’s the amount of green exposures I’m potentially ever getting in the course of my entire life. So when I found out I was shooting Relix 50, I set aside two of these for whatever happened in the moment. On the day of any given shoot I set up which film I’m going to use and when I’m going to use it. So I said I’m going to save one for the show and one for before the show.
When I saw Karina and Mikaela, we were the only women there in that moment. I love both of them and I’ve worked with both of them, so I was like, “I think we have to have a girl-power moment.” I shot a 35 and a regular Polaroid, but the green one was magic, as we all knew it would be. I had previously shot Mikaela with the green film and she was happy I was using the camera with that film. We were excited to have a women of Relix 50 moment.
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MIKAELA DAVIS AND KARINA RYKMAN, RELIX 50, BROOKLYN BOWL, BROOKLYN, N.Y., 1/15/25
NOAH KAHAN, RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, NEW YORK, 8/30/23
I was really into Noah before he got super massive. That’s not a humblebrag—I just couldn’t believe he was selling out Radio City Music Hall, which is where this shot is from. I grew up with an image in my bedroom of what I believe is a Bob Minkin photo of Jerry twice. One is super clear and almost doesn’t look double exposed, then in the second one he’s almost like a ghost, but he’s super happy in both shots. So, my whole life, I’ve been chasing an image of a man and a guitar twice. This isn’t exactly the perfect iteration of that, but when I look at this photo it sparks the same joy as when I looked at the Jerry on my wall. That’s why I included this one. Also, my parents met at a Grateful Dead Radio City Music Hall show in 1980, so I had to include a Radio City shot.
CHRIS ROBINSON, THE BLACK CROWES, CAPITOL THEATRE, PORT CHESTER, N.Y., 12/22/24
That was supposed to be my last show night of the year—although I ended up working the Dark Show Orchestra show on New Year’s Eve— and it felt super special because they gave me my earliest photo pass, as well as freedom of access and expression for some years after that. Since my godmother’s retirement, it’s not that I never shoot them, but it’s been few and far between. That particular night, I made sure they didn’t know beforehand I was going to be shooting because I love to get their reactions in the moment when they see me in the pit. It’s very funny. You can see Chris was standing right over me in that photo. There were a lot of people in the pit that night and he was definitely serving to me in a way I appreciated. There’s also a really blurry shot that I have where he leaned in and kissed the Polaroid. The Polaroid isn’t quite fast enough for that but I will definitely keep the memory.
MIKAELA DAVIS, 1/31/24
This was an image in the making for many years of my life. It’s a manual and complicated shot with an eight-second-long exposure, where Mikaela had to hold her face and her body in an exact way while she moved the hula hoop in a very precise manner. I had 12 pieces of round film for the specific task that we were trying to achieve. She was the perfect collaborator and this image is one of my favorite things that I’ve ever made.
ANDREW MCMAHON, AUDACY BEACH FESTIVAL, FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA., 12/4/22
I was at a music festival in Florida shooting a ton of really great acts, but the reason I was there was for Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness. Andrew McMahon is one of my dear friends and a great performer. I’ve been a fan for my whole concert history. He does this thing during his shows with one of those parachutes they take out in kindergarten classes—or at The Rock and Roll Playhouse. In this moment, he was pulling it off his back to put into the crowd. I had been chasing that moment in his shows because I thought the rainbow of the parachute would make for a brilliant image. I’m also a sucker for when the film breaks, and in the bottom corner there’s a perfect little film break and texture of the emulsion not rolling out.
JOE RUSSO AND DAVE DREIWITZ, JRAD, CAPITOL THEATRE, PORT CHESTER, N.Y., 1/18/25
I fell in love with Joe’s drumhead that night and something about it screamed double exposure. I think 50% of my shots that night were doubles, but they were all so magical. Something about a JRAD show feels like we could go there in terms of psychedelic experience and no one’s going to be disappointed.
