Dese'Rae L. Stage | Music, Portrait, & Documentary Photography

Dese'Rae L. Stage is a New York City based photographer who makes pictures of people who make life worth living. Executed in bold color and high contrast, the majority of her work centers on musicians and the live show experience. Her images address music as emotional catharsis and, in many cases, isolate the artist as a singular, untouchable figure, in much the same way as fame itself. In addition to photography, she has interviewed several of her personal heroes, including Tori Amos, Tegan and Sara, and Amanda Palmer.

She is self-taught, and also holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from East Tennessee State University, where she studied various aspects of suicide/self-injurious behavior and creative writing. She has extensive crisis intervention training, having completed the QPR Gatekeeper and Suicide Intervention Specialist training and ASIST programs. She lives in Manhattan with her partner, Katie, their dog, and three cats (two of whom are questionably-abled). Other interests include bad pop music, crude humor, and potential.

She is currently working on Live Through This, a documentary photo project aimed at reducing stigma associated with attempted suicide and self-injury--as well as promoting awareness, prevention, and prevention education--by confronting the viewer with images of real people who have struggled with these issues... and won. The intention is to illustrate that, not only are suicide attempt survivors human, but we are everywhere and sometimes even those who play a role in our day-to-day lives may not know our dark histories; that we are essentially like everyone else; that we have battle wounds and, ultimately, we've learned that we have something to live for. By not acknowledging or speaking of our truths, by ignoring the elephant in the room, the silence is not only deafening, but it can also be deadly.

Dese'Rae is available for assignment locally and worldwide. Contact her manager, Lisa Lombardo, to purchase prints, license images, or discuss rates for editorial photography, portraiture, headshots, promo shoots, events, and other creative endeavors.

Group Exhibitions

"CMJ30," P.J.S. Exhibitions, New York, NY (2010)
"Salon," The Art Resource Gallery, Johnson City, TN (2004)
"Deep Down," The Gallery @ 316, Johnson City, TN (2004)

Selected Clients / Contributions / Publications

The New Yorker · CMJ (Official Photographer '08-'10) · Creative Artists Agency · Tell All Your Friends PR · New York Magazine · Rasputina · Blender · Prefix · Brooklyn Vegan · Stereogum · Gothamist · JDUB Records · W Magazine · The Village Voice · PopWreckoning · Rockscope · Toronto Life Magazine · Skyscraper Magazine · Reverb Magazine

There is a feeling that I had Friday night after the homecoming game that I don't know if I will ever be able to describe except to say that it is warm. Sam and Patrick drove me to the party that night, and I sat in the middle of Sam's pickup truck. Sam loves her pickup truck because I think it reminds her of her dad. The feeling I had happened when Sam told Patrick to find a station on the radio. And he kept getting commercials. And commercials. And a really bad song about love that had the word "baby" in it. And then more commercials. And finally he found this really amazing song about this boy, and we all got quiet.

Sam tapped her hand on the steering wheel. Patrick held his hand outside the car and made air waves. And I just sat between them. After the song finished, I said something.

"I feel infinite."

And Sam and Patrick looked at me like I said the greatest thing they ever heard. Because the song was that great and because we all really paid attention to it. Five minutes of a lifetime were truly spent, and we felt young in a good way.

- Excerpted from The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky