Los Angeles, California native Cassidy Meyers, C'2021, a senior photography major, writing minor at Spelman College, recently earned a coveted spot in the Beats by Dr. Dre inaugural Black Future Creator Program, a group of creatives from Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the nation. Along with her Black Future Creator cohort, she will "Flood Beats’ platforms with gripping content about themselves, their communities, and the state of Black America."
Meyers developed a love of the arts, in particular in photography, as a way to explore intimate and personal portraits of people and beautify their inner light. As an IRL Creator in the program, her project will explore how photography has inspired confidence in her journey. IRL (IN REAL LIFE) creators are charged to showcase raw and more intimate moments which is right up Meyers' ally.
“I want to explore who I am, and to frankly speak to how my struggle with self-esteem lead to me using art as an outlet for expression and release," said Myers in her Black Future Creator bio.
In a VoyageATL article, Meyers was asked how she started and how she got to where she is today.
"I have been a creative-minded and visual person for as long as I can remember. Throughout my life, I’ve played many instruments, written poetry and short stories, produced and edited music videos, and painted. Growing up in a house full of creatives (my dad being a music video director, and my mom who used to act), was a very encouraging environment for me to practice all of my artistic endeavors," she said.
"It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I discovered my passion for photography. I took a photography course as an elective, not knowing how much it was going to impact me from that moment forward." Read more.
Captures By Cassidy
"I take on the role of a photographer, art director, and stylist when conceptualizing my photo shoot ideas. My work primarily focuses on portrait and fashion photography. I love to style the models I shoot and look for interesting locations and backdrops to create visually dynamic images," said Meyers.
In the summer of 2019, Meyers was awarded a scholarship with the help of Myra Green, chair of the Department of Art & Visual Culture, photography program director and professor; and President Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., to study for a week at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado.
While there, she took documentary photographer Richard Renaldi's "Photographing Strangers" course which she says pushed me out of only doing portrait photography and encouraged her to venture into the realm of documentary work. As result of her experience, she completed two documentary-style shoots: Paris in August" where she walked around the streets daily seeking to discover interesting moments and people to capture. Meyers second documentary-style shoot took place in her hometown of Los Angeles at a Venice Beach skate park. There, she took photos of skaters, the surroundings, and anything that caught her eye.
Spelman: Re-created
"A project that I am most proud of so far is my “Spelman: Re-created” series, she told VoyagerATL reporter. In the series, Meyers created a reflective work focused on comparing and contrasting the lives of current Spelman students to the lives of students in the past (starting in the 60’s and leading up to the 90’s). Within this project, she aims to not only appreciate where Spelman has been, but also acknowledge how far we’ve come by highlighting the differences and similarities between these generations.