Scottsdale's most recognized nightlife photographer, Christopher Cashak, came from lowly and adverse beginnings. His success story would lead to the Scottsdale scene where his photographs helped to build the city's glamorous image.
Scottsdale, AZ -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/11/2009 -- Unlike many in Scottsdale, Chrisopher Cashak was not born into wealth and privilege. He is the son of a janitor and public school teacher. At the age of 13 he dropped out of school. However, Mr. Cashak would not let circumstances or adversity hold him down. He went on to graduate with an associates degree at age 18 and finished a bachelors at Arizona State University by 20. He did not study photography in college but pursued it as a hobby. In 2004, Christopher Cashak started his own professional photography business. He worked in several photography disciplines, including fashion, glamor, landscape and nature. Mr. Cashak's photographs were published in renowned local, national and international magazines, newspapers and websites.
During the fall of 2004 Christopher received his first assignment to photograph the nightlife at club Axis/Radius in Scottsdale. When Christopher Cashak started photographing the scene it was dominated by student, intern and amateur photographers. He set a new bar for the quality and professionalism currently demanded from legitimate photographers of nightlife. The magazines and websites that covered Scottsdale nightlife at the time quickly began telling their photographers to “do what he does”.
Social networking was just coming become popular at this time. He was one of the first to encourage club goers to post the pictures he took of them on their social networking profiles. The photos of the Scottsdale scene were then shared around the world. This practice is common place today. Many sites now automatically integrate their nightlife photos with social networking platforms.
A long list of celebrities have posed in front of Christopher Cashak's camera, including Paris Hilton, Shakira, Gwen Stefani, Jenna Jameson, Charles Barkley, Shaq, Amare Stoudemire, Kendra Wilson, Nick Lachey, 50 Cent, Bad Girl's Club Amber Buell and Meade, FHM's Carlee Ranger and many more. He also captured performances of today's top disc jockeys, including DJ AM, Vice, Hollywood, Cheapshot, OB-ONE, Fashen, Abelrock, Scooter, Rocktakon, Jazzy Jeff, Steve Aoki, JJ Flores, Ferry Corsten and Paul Oakenfold. Publishing these photos helped to establish Scottsdale as a celebrity hotspot. However, Mr. Cashak did not limit his camera lens to the famous. He perpetuated the concept of paparazzi for everyone by photographing all the party goers as if they were Hollywood celebrities.
In addition to party and event photos, Christopher Cashak pioneered two styles of photography that captured a different dimension of nightlife in Scottsdale. In 2006, he began publishing “Nightstreak” photos. In these images he uses advanced photography techniques to create visual effects naturally inside the camera without computer editing. The second style was developed for fashion and glamor photography. Most photographers in these disciplines will use soft light techniques. Christopher Cashak distinguished his work with high-contrast illumination that could only be used in lowlight environments like nightclubs.
This year Christopher Cashak declared himself the “Official Nightlife Photographer of Scottsdale”. Mr. Cashak proclaimed, “It was time to create an unmistakable distinction between the best photographer in town and the amateurs running around making the scene look bad.”
While photographing the Scottsdale scene, Mr. Cashak earned the reputation as one of Scottsdale's original playboys. He is known for leaving nightclubs with young women on his arms- many of them glamor or fashion models.
From humble beginnings to high-profile celebrity events, Christopher Cashak is an Arizona success story. His photographs are published world-wide. They show Arizona's beauty and the excitement of Scottsdale. Christopher Cashak turned nightlife photography into an art form that helped shape Scottsdale's glamorous image.
SUMMARY
Who: Christopher Cashak
What: Christopher Cashak proclaimed the Official Nightlife Photographer of Scottsdale.
When: August 20th, 2009
Where: Scottsdale, Arizona
Why: Christopher Cashak elevates the standard for nightlife photography by declaring himself the official photographer.