Nellie Clark, first-year psychology and communication double-major, uses her in freelancing in photography and position as on-camera skills on TigerTV to uplift local artists and promote diversity in the concert photography scene.
Clark always found joy in live music. Over the years, she attended countless concerts, from the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee to the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan. It is here, in the crowds of these concerts, that Clark finds both joy and creative energy.
“I’ve been going to concerts since I was five years old. Concerts have been a big part of my family and my life,” Clark said. “I don’t want to perform; that’s so scary, but being in the crowd and being able to take photos, especially of my friends … I love that.”
Clark’s history with photography spans back to her time in high school, where she took photos for the school newspaper and yearbook. Two years ago, however, Clark’s love for photography and live music converged when she began photographing for bands on a professional level.
“I started shooting for a band called Kainoa. My childhood friend, who’s now my boyfriend, is in that band. So I shot for him, and that kind of spiraled into me loving concert photography,” Clark said.
Clark’s affinity for concert photography is largely opportunistic. She attends performances by artists of all genres and will photograph wherever she goes. Although it is often unpaid, Clark continues her freelance work to support small bands.
“I feel like my whole photography career has just been me putting myself in places that no one asked me to be in, and it works out. It’s awesome,” Clark said. “I’ll go to smaller bands, like this band Kitchen Knives, and I just showed up and took photos for them … It’s so fun to be able to make little mementos of their shows for them. I love it.”
Additionally, Clark is motivated by the need for more diversity in concert photography. The field is male-dominated and the lack of female representation pushes her to assert herself as an artist.
“It’s such a male-dominated field that being a 16-year-old girl among 30-year-old men at festivals is really fun. It’s kind of broken down a lot of the stigma of me feeling like I need to just be behind the scenes and scurry away,” Clark said.
Jack Jones, first-year environmental studies and urban studies double major, is a fellow photographer and friend of Clark. The two will often photograph each other in their free time.
“We get to hang out and bond over taking pictures,” Jones said. “She’s also really, really dedicated to photography. I know she has put herself out there a lot in the industry to go and take pictures of concerts and basically of whoever wants their picture taken.”
On campus, Clark is a student volunteer at TigerTV. She works for two shows on TigerTV: Newswave and Studio 21. On Studio 21, Clark has spearheaded a segment called The Soundtrack of San Antonio, where she promotes local bands and performances. James Crosnoe, senior political science major and executive producer of Newswave, said Clark brought an immediate creative energy to TigerTV.
“She came in with new ideas on how to kind of bridge the gap between music and entertainment and then student news,” Crosnoe said. “Even early in the semester, from day one, we’ve been able to see that she’s somebody who is a hard worker and somebody who has creative ideas on how to kind of pop the Trinity bubble.”
Notably, on-camera work is a new addition to Clark’s array of creative outlets. However, appearing as on-camera talent has allowed her to express her love for local artists in a new way.
“I’ve always been very on-paper or on-camera behind the scenes, and being a news anchor is so, so vastly different from what I’ve done before,” Clark said. “I’m super lucky to be able to develop that and be able to interview so many bands already.”
Sydney Barner, first-year environmental studies and urban studies double-major, is another friend of Clark. She says that The Soundtrack of San Antonio is an exciting venture for Clark and the Trinity community.
“It’s like the coolest thing ever, bringing light to smaller bands in San Antonio. I know she’s been really excited to get into that” Barner said.
