Known for his guerilla style shooting sensibilities, original eye, and ability to see and capture uncommon moments of spontaneous, and often hilarious, subtext Cass (as he's known) developed his anticipatory lens finger at the tender age of fourteen when his loving (and rock-n-roll loving) Mom, Barbara, helped him smuggle his Dad's Canon F-1 camera into a Rolling Stones concert (with a little band outta California called Van Halen opening). He shot over fifty rolls of film that day, occasionally having to shove the camera back in his mom's purse when security neared (that's just kickass parenting if you ask me). From that day on Cass began shooting every big show that came through town, determined to walk away with that evening's most evocative live images. Before long his prints became a hot commodity at Division High School in Levittown, selling to the rabid demand of his classmates.

In the early 90's Cass started assisting renowned commercial Photographer Mick Pateman out of his thriving studio in Manhattan. Through Mick's magnanimous mentorship (which included the free use of his studio) Cass began constructing a client base, shooting steadily for Ring Magazine, radio stations like WLIR, K-ROCK, and Z-100, as well as taking press and live photos for hundreds of New York City bands.

From there Cass's artistic evolution and passion took him beyond that of just still photography and graduated him to directing short films, music videos and documentaries too. In 1999 he won the MTV World Aids Day Film Festival with a documentary short called, "Dear Barbra..." He's since directed three feature length docs and a multiple array of shorts that have circled the globe in a variety of prestigious festivals. He has also directed over fifty music videos, always bringing a punk rock energy, wry sense of humor, and a unique and colorful slant to everything he does.

His commercial client list is vast, varied, and long shooting for: Ikea, Nascar, Bing, Westin Hotels, Audible.com, as well as heavyweight cultural, sports, and news publications like Rolling Stone, People, US, Vibe, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, The New York Times and countless other digital media outlets. On the film side, he's shot numerous projects for IFC, Random House, Simon and Schuster, OXO, Penguin Books and others.

Chris Cassidy is based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. If you live over that way you might wanna look up. He's probably out there shooting something cool right now.

- Christopher John Campion
Knockout Drops lead vocalist and Cass client since 1991...I'm also "Macheesmo."