About Me

Hi, I'm Dese'Rae L. Stage, and I'm a photographer based in New York City. I shoot everything from live music to headshots to weddings, and some other stuff in between. It's not that I lack focus, I just have a lot of interests. In November 2011, I was chosen as one of three protégés (the only woman and the only American) for iStockphoto's Feast mentorship program. I'm passionate about music, suicide awareness education, and body art. I'm prone to TMI moments and bouts of complaint, but my sense of humor makes up for it. I promise.

In a past life, I was a published poet. In a separate (and occasionally overlapping) past life, I studied psychology; more specifically, I studied the psychological causes and effects of self-injury. Turns out, self-injury is too taboo a topic for even a Ph.D. candidate to tackle. When the university tried to push me into studying archival data on risky behaviors in adolescents, I decided to run away to New York to do things my way. In doing so, I decided to stop trying to follow the practical path and started to follow my dreams. You can be an artist and effect change at the same time. Who'da thunk?

I'm currently working on Live Through This, a photo project aimed at reducing stigma associated with attempted suicide, as well as promoting awareness, prevention, and prevention education, by confronting the viewer with images of real people who have struggled with these issues... and won. The intention is to illustrate that, not only are suicide attempt survivors human, but we are everywhere and sometimes even those who play a role in our day-to-day lives may not know our dark histories; that we are essentially like everyone else; that we have battle wounds and, ultimately, we've learned that we have something to live for. By not acknowledging or speaking of our truths, by ignoring the elephant in the room, the silence is not only deafening, but it can also be deadly.

This blog serves as a home for anything and everything I see fit to share, from my various photo-related ventures to home life to...well, you get the point.

Group Exhibitions

"CMJ30," P.J.S. Exhibitions, New York, NY (2010)
"Salon," The Art Resource Gallery, Johnson City, TN (2004)
"Deep Down," The Gallery @ 316, Johnson City, TN (2004)

Selected Clients / Contributions / Publications

The New Yorker · CMJ (Official Photographer '08-'10) · Creative Artists Agency · Tell All Your Friends PR · New York Magazine · Rasputina · Blender · Prefix · Brooklyn Vegan · Stereogum · Gothamist · JDUB Records · W Magazine · The Village Voice · PopWreckoning · Rockscope · Toronto Life Magazine · Skyscraper Magazine · Reverb Magazine

Assignment: Self-portrait

I think it’s incredibly important to study your craft, whatever it is, to constantly work to hone and improve your skills. That said, I’m taking a portrait class at 3rd Ward this fall, and our homework assignment this week was to make a self-portrait.

I’m not nearly as comfortable in front of the camera as I am behind it, and I put a lot of thought into how I could simultaneously soothe myself enough to get a good shot while making myself vulnerable and expressing something worth looking at. I’m the most relaxed in the mornings, just after I’ve woken up. I’m also incredibly self-conscious of my fine hair, typically matted to my head upon waking, and refuse to go into public until I’ve tamed the beast. It seemed to me this would be the best time to try for the shot.

When I set it up, I happened to be in a hotel room on Ocean Beach, and the window light allowed for some beautiful backlight. The image below is accidental, but a favorite from the set, nonetheless.