Bio and Contact

Kyle Cassidy has been documenting American culture since the 1990s. His keen eye and unique perspective have allowed him to capture a diverse range of subjects, from goths and punks to politicians and scholars. Cassidy's portfolio includes the critically acclaimed books, Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes (for which he won Amazon.com's "10 Best Art Books of 2007" award), War Paint: Tattoo Culture and the Armed Forces, and This is What a Librarian Looks Like: A Celebration of Libraries, Communities, and Access to Information.

Trapped in his house during the COVID-19 lockdown he took up a friend's offer to learn to knit over Zoom and in 2021 he set out for Iceland with fiber artist Joan Dark to document the history of the Icelandic sweater, photographing and interviewing some of the women who created this cultural phenomenon. This became the book Lopapeysa: A Knitter's Guide to Iceland. During those first days of the COVID-19 pandemic he also began a multi-year oral history of healthcare and essential workers, Between Us and Catastrophe, which collected the stories of frontline workers over time. With the backing of Philadelphia's mayor, health department, and members of city council, this work eventually became a collaborative partnership with Philadelphia's Science History Institute which looks to preserve memories and physical objects of this period in history.

In addition to his books, he has undertaken a number of long-form photography projects that showcase his ability to delve deep into specific communities and themes. Notable among these are Roller Derby Portraits, which captures the fearless and brutal world of roller derby athletes, and Where I Write, a series documenting the workspaces of science fiction and fantasy authors.

As well as three album covers for musician and movie director John Carpenter, several album covers for punk cabaret stalwarts The Dresden Dolls and a bevy of work with heavy metal bands, Cassidy has also collaborated on significant projects with a variety of scholars. He was a founding member of the North Dakota Man Camp Project with Richard Rothaus, Ph.D. and William Caraher, Ph.D., which produced the book Bakken Goes Boom! which documents the impact of the oil exploration in North Dakota and which also became a viral article for Slate. His documentation of the remains of the Minidoka Concentration Camp in Idaho, again with Central Michigan University's Richard Rothaus, became an oral history archive and touring gallery show which serves as a reminder of America's internment history during World War II. With scholar John Vilanova, he explored the gendered labor of the touring music scene, producing a series of portraits and interviews for the paper and gallery installation “I’m Not the Drummer’s Girlfriend”: Merch Girls, Tour’s Misogynist Mythos, and the Gendered Dynamics of Live Music’s Backline Labor.

Characterized by its unpredictability, and honed by his time as an assistant for documentary photography legend Mary Ellen Mark, Cassidy's work captures the essence of American subcultures, featuring a wide array of subjects, including metalheads, scientists, librarians, nurses, fans and athletes. His unique approach to documentary photography has earned him recognition in both artistic and academic circles.

Kyle Cassidy resides in Philadelphia with his wife, and frequent collaborator, stage actress Trillian Stars, and their two cats. Their most recent work is Kyle@kylecassidy.com.