Photographer: Katherine Amy Vega
Since 2003, I have been photographing live music. I started with automatic cameras at local Arizona shows, capturing moments purely for the joy and sentimentality of it. Over time, my insatiable appetite for concerts, relentless dedication to documenting experiences, and pursuit of artistic excellence led me to embrace photography professionally. But my history with cameras stretches much further back…
My grandfather was always behind a camera, documenting our family’s time together long before I was in grade school. My elder sister, Nicole, delighted in using her Polaroid camera to take candid shots of unsuspecting family members. My parents encouraged our creativity, arming my sisters and me with disposable cameras on vacations and introducing us to the magic of panoramic photography. I carried my camera everywhere, capturing my friends during recess and snapping shots of animals at the zoo on field trips.
Our love for storytelling extended into video, too. My father bought a camcorder, and my sisters and I spent hours creating one-shot music videos and skits. Naturally, I took it upon myself to document our vacations.
Music has always been my lifeblood. It runs through my family just as deeply as photography. We had an upright piano in the house. my mother and big sister played, and I eagerly followed, taking lessons from my school’s music teacher. Nicole sang in the school chorus, a path I couldn’t wait to follow, and I fell in love with the alto saxophone in band class. Meanwhile, my father was the lead singer of a rock band, and our home was filled with instruments, sound equipment, and his vast vinyl collection, which I explored endlessly. To this day, few things soothe me like the sound of a piano or an acoustic guitar.
Nicole took gymnastics classes, my younger sister Heather took ballet, and after mastering swimming and diving, I joined her as a ballerina. Later, I trained in many other forms of dance. Heather was also by my side for many of my earliest concert experiences, a tradition that further intertwined my love for music and movement.
I was fortunate to have an incredible photography professor in college – an admirably strict yet kind German woman – who allowed me to use high-ISO film for my assignments so I could capture concerts. She introduced me to my first SLR camera and taught me how to develop film and prints by hand. Her lessons instilled in me the foundational principles that continue to define my work today.
Another influential mentor, my primary Media Arts professor, was a charismatic, storytelling powerhouse – an animated and expressive lesbian from Wisconsin. She taught me to use Photoshop and the Adobe Creative Suite in ways I never could have anticipated while majoring in Web Design. Thanks to her legendary teaching, I developed an expansive skill set that transcends individual disciplines, allowing me to integrate expertise from multiple fields and set my work apart from the competition.
To me, there is almost no subject unworthy of being captured through a lens. I thrive on the challenge of making even the mundane feel alive. Photography has opened my eyes and heart to so many things I might never have explored otherwise.
Naturally, I am compelled to shoot performing arts and all things artistic, and I would love to have the opportunity to photograph more travel and animals. I have an affinity for the unique and interesting, which draws me to capture fashion shows and alternative-style weddings in addition to traditional subjects like traditional weddings and graduations. I am proud to be a LGBTQ+ wedding photographer, celebrating love in all its forms and capturing brides in dresses that defy tradition.
I run a media, design, and branding business named Kataklizmic Design and an independent, regional online publication called Burning Hot Events – covering the music scene and arts. I manage a wonderful editorial team of photographers and journalists that contribute to that webzine, Team Kataklizmic (aka the “BHE crew”).
My career in website design and development began in 2007, building on a foundation I’ve been practicing since 1998. I also occasionally do freelance production & event support gigs on the side, playing the roles of Talent Relations, Production Assistant, Camera Assistant, and Photographer for things like conventions, tv shows, ad campaigns, corporate videos, and films.
At my core, I am a passionate observer of aesthetics, dedicated to creating eye-catching images that help others see the world through my eyes. Photography, to me, is altruistic… a way to remind people of the beauty that surrounds them, even when they’ve forgotten to look.
If you are looking for a photographer with both heart and professionalism, contact me.
~ Katherine Amy Vega ~