Local Photographers Interview With Kassidy Marschall

Whilst examining the history of photography in the Regina area, we spoke with local photographer Kassidy Marschall, owner of Elysian Photography, to gain insight into the contemporary understandings of photography as an evolved art form. Kassidy is a proud mother of two who uses her love for them as inspiration for her photographic artwork. Her portfolio demonstrates strong family bonds and a fairytale outlook on life through her fine art portraiture. She currently holds national accreditation in the PPOC’s Portrait, Studio Portrait, Environmental Family, and Children & Infant categories. Read more to learn about her experiences with portrait photography and restoration of historic photographs.

“ The love that I feel for my kids and the fact that they’re my joy is… really everything I create is a celebration of that. ”

— Kassidy Marschall

What is your story?

So, I would say that my professional background has always been a mixture, it's like a swirling puzzle of art and entrepreneurship and kids and babies. My education is actually in business but my first business that I ran was an art company. I ran paint night in Saskatoon for a few years, I think it was between 2015 and 2019 and then I sold that, but that really first gave me the passion for being able to make a living in the art industry. I’m passionate that artists should be able to make a living creating or teaching art and then when I moved back to Regina that’s when I decided to start up as a photographer and immediately I knew that I was drawn to kids and babies and families and motherhood as that’s what really inspires me. And so one thing sort of led to another in what I specialize in. And outside of work I have my 2 kids, a 9 year old and a 7 year old who are my whole world and you know, just a million after school activities and the backyard swimming pool and travelling and all that good family stuff.

You’ve mentioned that you’ve always been a bit of a baby whisperer, how do you mean?

When I was a kid I loved babies. I loved babysitting. I just always loved kids and toddlers and preschoolers and storybooks and fairytales and I was a very, very imaginative kid so I would just be off in my own little world. So, I try to bring some of that imagination and whimsy and storybook quality into my work.

When did your interest in photography begin?

I would say that was when I was a kid too. So, I was an early 90s baby and I don’t know if you know who Anne Geddes is but she took pictures of babies, this would’ve been still on film cameras, but she took pictures of happy, chubby, rollie babies in flower pots dressed as flowers or dressed as a teddy bear and it was very different at the time and it was a consumable product you could buy at the store at Walmart or something and it was just at your home of other people's babies and when I was around 7 or 8 I remember thinking, ‘that’s what I want to do when I’m old’ and ‘it looks like the best job in the world!’. You get to take babies and take pictures of them and just put them in cute outfits and so yeah I remember wanting to do baby photography from a very young age.

What’s your favourite work in your portfolio?

Yeah.. I feel like I’m lucky in that usually my favourite photo is from the last session that I did. I always have a new favourite but I really love working with colour and mood so some of the more recent ones that I did this spring were purple and green. I always love spring, so purple and green. Yeah, the baby with the lilacs and her little green dress, that one is probably my most recent favourite but I'm sure that’ll be changing again and again in the next few weeks.

What is the most memorable moment of your career?

That’s a good question, I would probably say earlier this year I was a finalist for Canada’s portrait photographer of the year, so I would say that's certainly a career highlight so far. I was a PPOC finalist for child and infant portraits, I did win the fine art photo for the Prairie division of Saskatchewan and Manitoba in 2022, I believe. But also working with families at different times in their lives. Sometimes somebody’s just been diagnosed with cancer and they reach out because they want to do a family session before somebody does chemotherapy. Or there's just been a lot of emotional things that people invite me into which has been really flattering and life altering in some ways.

What strategies do you use during your creative process to get the best results?

I have found that the more I can pre plan the better. So, sometimes I’ll literally just start with a sketchbook if I have an idea in my head on what I’d like to capture from what angle, what colours I would like to use, and I’ll actually sketch out the compositions and what angles I’m gonna come from and I’ll even know what colour harmonies I want to pull in so the more I can pre plan in my head the better. But that only gets you so far because obviously when you’re working with people, and especially with kids and babies, there’s some luck that comes into play and the mood they’re gonna be in and if they like that pose or if they’re really feeling it. So a lot of it can be pre planned but then you also have to go with the flow in the session as well and there’s a ton of post editing as well that I do which is, I do 100% hand editing so it’s almost like a painting that I’m drawing on, on my computer so it’s all done by hand because I used to paint and sketch and that’s what I was most familiar with was using my hands with paint and pencil so I’m able to do that right on my computer now.

What major takeaway would you like people to get from your work?

That my work is more painting than a photograph. I want to create art that has emotion and really captures how something feels, not necessarily how something looks to the blind eye but yeah I don’t want to necessarily quote, ‘snap memories’ or ‘capture a moment’ like a lot of photographers are trying to do. I’m more wanting to capture magic and serenity and joy and sometimes resilience or heartbreak but I’m more trying to capture emotion than just a photograph.

On your website you mention your passion for storytelling through your work, how does storytelling through photography differ from other forms?

I work with real people so the people that are in my portraits have real depth. They have a real human experience behind them, they’re human beings. So starting with that and working with real people as a first medium is really unique to photography than any other genre. You start with a human being. At least when it comes to portrait photography!

You’ve recently been working on a project to recolour and restore old Saskatchewan photographs. What kind of photographs?

When I have free time, that's what I like to do. I started with my own family’s photographs from a long time ago, the black and white pictures from the 30s or 20s. Some of them are close to a hundred years old and I find that restoring them and recoloring them really helps connect them to us. They seem more real, more human when it feels like that picture could be from now. So, I feel like we may have a stronger connection to our heritage and previous generations when you can see the portrait a little more modern realistically.

What are the benefits of giving new life to these photos?

It's just a reminder that the people who lived a hundred years ago - that was really not that long ago and they were just like us and they had all the same emotions and challenges that we have now and I think that can maybe give us some perspective in our own lives and it's sort of a reminder that we’re all living our own story as well.

How do these old photographs inspire your modern work?

They definitely inspire my current portrait work. I definitely like the vibe. I love a classic portrait. There’s just something that I'm drawn to, something effortless there that I definitely try to emulate - the timeless clothing, I love. I have a massive wardrobe with hundreds of pieces, especially children’s clothing that I want to appear timeless. So, if it looks like it could have been worn a hundred years ago, I’m sure a hundred years from now it will continue to be timeless. I also really like the obvious presence of the seasons. So even though you’re looking at a black and white photo in Saskatchewan you know it was a very hot day based on how they’re dressed. I love seeing the obvious role that the seasons play and I try to include that in my own work as well.

How does studying old photographs shape your perception of the art form of photography and how it has evolved through the decades?

I would say it's definitely become more of an artistic expression over the years as technology has changed. Obviously in the olden days they were trying to capture stark reality and we can appreciate that so much now that we can look at what life was like. But now, when everybody is walking around with a camera in their pocket there's so much reality that we can capture all day long that anybody could really capture, so it’s sort of opened up the potential for photography to expand into more of an art and as a form of expression. So, I like being able to play with reality a little bit more so that it's more of a rose coloured lens of how I would like life to be perceived through my eyes.

How does the city of Regina impact your work?

Everything that I shoot has a person from Regina or a place from Regina so I find so many nooks and crannies around the city that I like to shoot in so I'm always hunting for and discovering special spots where the light is really pretty, or where the trees canopy in such a way that I really like and so its helped me fall in love with the city a little bit more as I'm always on the hunt for these magical little spots. And then most of my clients are from the area as well so Regina's very important to what I'm creating - its central to the whole thing!

What is your favourite part about Regina’s photography community?

The support that most photographers are eager to provide one another. Everyone for the most part is very willing to lend a helping hand, and give advice on new methods or equipment. I think everyone kind of understands that we couldn’t possibly be the only photographer in the city, nobody has the banquet to do that so it’s very much a community rather than a series of competitors who have it out for one another and it's a very supportive community of one another.

What advice would you give to aspiring photographers in Regina?

I would say hone your skills, practice your craft, invest in yourself. Never stop improving and don't feel that you have to do something a certain way just because everyone else around you seems to be doing it that way. The more you can decide what is best for you and your business and your art I think that can only help separate you from the rest of the crowd. Don't be afraid to be different!

Final Thoughts?

When I was talking about my kids I wanted to say that my kids are my muse and even if I’m not taking every picture of my own children, the love that I feel for my kids and the fact that they’re my joy is… really everything I create is a celebration of that.

All photographs depicted were taken by Kassidy Marschall.

To support her business, Visit the link to her website below:

Elysian Photography Company - Fine Art Portraits in Regina, Saskatchewan