Yasi on Lomography Film, Touring, and 20 Years in the Entertainment Business

Jasmine Safaeian, also know as Yasi, is a Los Angeles-based concert photographer and tour manager with 20 years of experience in the business and a distinct personal style that has led her to shoot major artists such as Halsey, Carly Rae Jepsen, Gracie Abrams, and many, many more.

We recently had the opportunity to pick Yasi's brain about her love for Lomography Color Negative 400 and 800 films, how she got to where she is today, and all of her tips and tricks for aspiring music photographers.

Hi Yasi, welcome to Lomography Magazine! Can you start off by telling us a bit about yourself and your work?

Hello! I’m Yasi. I’m a music photographer and tour manager. All I want to do is travel the world, be surrounded by music, and photograph my feelings. I’ve been pursuing this dream for 20 years now and I’m happy to announce it’s finally happening for me.

How did you get started in concert photography?

I learned about touring as a teenager and it immediately became my dream to document a tour and tell the story of what it’s like to travel from city to city and put on a show every night. It’s the circus appeal that fascinates me the most. I’m an entertainer and a storyteller at heart. I'm obsessed with show business and the entertainment industry as a whole.

Being an only child, I also love the thought of having companions with me all day, living together in a van or bus, entertaining the masses, and never feeling alone again.

When I first started pursuing this, we didn't have social media yet. My goal was to document a band for several years at a time and publish photo books like Autumn de Wilde did.

Who was the first major artist that you shot for? What was it like?

Honestly all my initial experiences were awful! I don't even want to name the first major acts I worked with because I don't want to be associated with them.

In the beginning, I was so desperate to get out there and photograph in cities other than my own that I was working for free, paying for my own flights and hotels, driving alone overnight, not eating cause I couldn't afford to, and putting up with a staggering amount of emotional abuse from my “employers.” Growing pains I guess! I was young and clinging onto the worst situations because I thought I had no other options.

I've cried in so many venue bathrooms it’s unreal - I joke that because I was always the only girl on tour, at least the women’s bathrooms were always available for me to have a good cry in, and since I could only afford Southwest flights, at least the back of the plane was always empty for me to have a good cry in. (There’s nothing quite as satisfying as an airplane cry!)

Eventually I learned to value myself more, put those teams behind me, and made space for new clientele (actual empaths!) who paid me what they could and treated me like a fellow human being.

Do you have a favorite Lomography film stock? How does it complement your artistic visions?

I LOVVVVE the vibrant colors in the color negative stock. I use CN 800 ISO for concerts and CN 400 ISO for day-to-day coverage. My work is very colorful and dreamy, and Lomography film is the best at delivering the vibe I’m going for.

Do you have an all-time favorite shot taken on Lomography film?

Oh no I have no idea how to choose just one. Every shot represents a special memory to me and I’m emotionally attached to all of them.

The narrowing down process is my least favorite part of the job. Y’all asked me to send at at least 10 photos for this article and I sent in 96!

Do you have any advice for photographers interested in getting started with live music photography?

Develop your own style and stick to it. There are sooooo many budding music photographers out there and so much of their work looks the same to me. How are you going to stand out? What do you offer that makes you different?

I accidentally ended up in the EDM space for a while and I stood out because I had a very soft, dreamy, close-up emotional style while my peers were producing fisheye crowd shots. I didn't fit into the EDM aesthetic at all, and that was a good thing. All of a sudden, huge electronic artists like Porter Robinson and Madeon were hiring me regularly because they wanted something different.

I’m also a great tour manager (I’m an alpha, I’m severely organized, and I love taking care of people) so being able to do two jobs helped a lot with getting hired by musicians who had smaller budgets or didn't care as much about aesthetics.

What would you say is the most fulfilling part of your job?

I love looking back on work that I made 5, 10, 20 years ago and still being proud of it. My process has developed over time as I've been learning how to produce the images I see in my mind, but my eye has always been MY eye. I've always had a vision and a specific style, and I’m proud of sticking to it and remaining true to myself.

If you could give your past self one piece of advice, what would it be?

When going through airport security, always put your film in a film guard bag, and even when you have that bag, you should still ask the security agents to hand check your film. Hand checking only takes a few minutes, and sometimes they may still need to put 1 or 2 rolls through the x-ray, at which point you can put it through inside the film guard bag.

My work is mostly digital, and I provide film shots as a bonus for my clients, so I never bothered with having a film guard bag or hand checking my film. It wasn't a priority and I thought I'd be fine. Lately I've been shooting MUCH more film, and a few months ago, all of my film from a European tour was absolutely demolished by x-rays.

There are varying levels of x-ray machines out there and most of them say they won't affect film that’s below 800 iso, but on tour you're going through a ton of airports and it’s safe to say one of them may just zap all your work to oblivion.

Do you have any upcoming projects or shoots that you can share with our community?

That’s for me to know and you to find out! Follow me on Instagram to keep up.

Anything else you'd like to share?

I stream regularly on Twitch and I’m always answering career related questions during my streams. Come join us in the chat if you have any follow-up questions! I can't respond to private messages because I don't have the bandwidth for it, and I would rather answer questions on stream where everybody can learn together and help each other. I love my Twitch community so much.

If you're interested in keeping up with Yasi and her work, don't forget to check out her Instagram, and Twitch!

written by eloffreno on 2023-12-18 #gear #culture #people #music #concerts #entertainment #touring #tips-and-tricks #managing #live-shows