Growing up in rural New Jersey there's not much to do. To pass the time, Abby Clare always found herself drawn to different forms of art. Whether it be music, writing, painting, or photography. While most kids in high school were sitting around doing homework, Abby was planning her next concert. To her, concerts were almost a vacation, some time to let things go and enjoy the moment. But her family had a few stipulations to this lifestyle. Abby was allowed to go to concerts with her dad, but she was still required to go to school or work the next day. There was no calling out. It didn't matter whether they were staging local or traveling hours to New York or Philadelphia. It was expected of her that she continued to put her academics first. 

She then went on to pursue creative writing and rhetorical studies at Syracuse University. During her college years, she began to focus on her writing skills. But, she was looking for new ways to incorporate her love for music. So to combine both passions in 2016 Abby created her blog “My Life Backstage.” While working at school Abby was still constantly going to concerts. If she wasn’t attending the concert as a fan she was working the merch booth at her local music venue. Her blog was a way for her to keep a journal of her experiences as someone looking to make it into the music industry.

Like most people, Abby would take photos with her phone when she went to concerts. She would then upload the photos she would take to coincide with her concert review. But she didn’t professionally shoot a concert until she was invited to an I Don't Know How But They Found Me and Waterparks concert to shoot for her blog as a certified publication. Abby didn’t have a high-end professional camera so she called her brother’s girlfriend’s sister who was a portrait photographer and asked if she could borrow a camera. From that show on Abby knew that concert photography was a huge passion for her. Abby would then go on to reach out to other tours to soot and the rest is history. 

During the rest of her college career, Abby would continue to find ways to progress in her photography skills. She would help her Brother’s girlfriend’s sister with portraits and would learn how to edit photos with presets. After graduating college in 2019, Abby’s first big girl job in the music industry was working for an artist management company called “Dimm Entertainment '' in their publicity department. This was around the time that Covid hit the music industry, specifically live music, so the office was a bit quieter than normal. Abby enjoyed working in promotion but she was still drawn to photography. Abby was constantly doing all sorts of photoshoots whether it was creative portrait shoots, product shoots, or just photos of the world around her with landscape photos. It was around 2020 and 2021 that she began to craft her photography skills. Although she was enjoying her work in the office she began to love the medium of photography. Towards the end of 2021, Abby could feel that she was onto something new. She enjoyed her time at Dimm but she knew she had two choices. She could sit down and stick with artist PR and promotion or she could pursue photography full-time. And that’s exactly what she did. 

At the end of 2021, Abby left Dimm Entertainment and decided to work as a full-time freelance photographer. She had no prospects, no clients, no tours planned, nothing. But she knew that that was the best idea for her to be able to pursue her passion. To keep her bills paid she ended up doing freelance PR. In December of 2021, Abby was able to book her first tour back from COVID, with an alternative band from Dimm Entertainment called Laterwaves. This tour was a bit of a rough patch. Although the glitz and glam of the idea of going on tour sounds like fun, sometimes the reality can be jarring. After coming home from the Later Waves tour Abby wondered if she was cut out for tour photography. The tour was both mentally and physically draining. Being on a tour van 24/7 and constantly in the hustle and bustle was overwhelming for Abby. It was even more overwhelming since COVID was having another surge. After the tour, Abby decided to take a step back and ask herself if she wanted to continue pursuing photography or if she was ready to settle down and work in artist PR. 

Abby decided to give music photography a second shot and ended up booking a show for Prince Daddy and the Hyena. This was the show that set everything straight for Abby Clare. It was at this show that she took that “it” photo that all photographers get when they are starting. Clare was able to capture Kory Gregory, the lead singer, in the perfect photo. After looking back at her shoot from the night, Abby knew she needed to continue her photography. 

From then on Abby was unstoppable. She was booking Shows left and right as well as the occasional touring gig. She was ready to commit her career to music photography. But that doesn’t mean she was limiting herself to only concert photos. Not only was she taking concert photos but she was also taking behind-the-scenes photos, album photos, creative portraits for artists, and even helping shoot music videos. At the same time that she was working on concert photography, she was also helping those on the tour with merchandise as well as general management.

Fast forward to 2024. Abby is now a proud concert photographer making a name for herself in the alternative scene. From constantly traveling between New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia for one-off shows. Currently going on one of the biggest tours of her career with Diva Bleach as a photographer, videographer, and merchandise manager. She is nonstop. 

As time has gone on Abby has changed her style drastically. She went from not editing her photos at all to using presets to now creating a world of vintage editing styles. Her goal is to have a vintage film. From vintage grain film to bright vintage 80’s colors and neon glow. She still wants to keep things authentic. So you won’t find her editing out mic stands or any sort of retouching. She mainly focuses on the overall hue and tone of the photo. The same thing goes for her portrait shoots and her landscape photos. Being a tour photographer means a fast turnaround. Photos need to be edited and ready to post by the end of the night if not the top of the next morning. So there is no time for a long scaled editing session. 

During the hustle and bustle of the tour life, Abby still finds herself trying to enjoy the art of photography without the need for work. During her time on tour Abby constantly finds herself taking in the local sights with a camera. She is constantly taking landscape photos of the area around the current tour venue. Half the point of touring is traveling to new places, so Abby’s whole goal within her tour photography is to tell the whole story down to her venue’s surroundings and sights. 

But Abby’s biggest takeaway from her process is all about knowing your surrounding environment. Unlike most photographers, Abby doesn’t necessarily focus on the editing or knowledge of music artists. To her, it’s all about knowing the set list of the tour. If Abby is working on a tour she is constantly listening to the musician’s music. She wants to understand all of the songs that they will play that night and what kind of environment they might provoke. What are the slow songs? What are sad or emotional songs? What are the fast-paced mosh pit-evoking songs? Yes, Abby is there to photograph the artist but she is also there to photograph the environment of the show. She relies heavily on crow shots. Whether it be pictures of the crowd from the stage, from in the crowd, to focusing on the crowd surfers. Abby wants to encourage the overall video of the show. 

Each show she challenges herself to try and get a different shot of the artist or the crowd. She wants to keep things a challenge. Her biggest hair is falling into habits of getting too comfortable and not growing her skills. But at the same time, she wants to make sure she doesn’t overwork herself to make sure she doesn’t burn out. Nights on tour can be torturous and draining both physically and mentally so Abby tries super hard to take time for herself both on and off tour. Whether it is something so basic as sitting down to read a book in a quiet space to walk a “hot girl walk” around town to try and find a good cup of coffee. Abby also makes sure to take some time for herself, both before and after a tour to prepare and recuperate from the touring lifestyle. Abby makes it a point to prioritize her physical and mental health just as much as her career and her art. 

While looking back at what got her to this position in her career the goal is to make a few things clear to those looking to pursue any form of work in the entertainment industry. That is at the end of the day this is her job. This is work. Yes, it can be fun and can be some of the best and most exciting times of her life but it is work. People idolize the idea of going on tour and working in entertainment but at the end of the day, it is work. Everyone on a tour, on an artist’s team to the artist themselves they are working. So make sure you prioritize your work and your portfolio. Make sure you are pushing yourself to create new work and to keep topping yourself. Once you feel like you are ready to take on the work Abby strongly recommends cold calling and cold emailing. You never know unless you try. Sending out her resume and her portfolio to companies and bands that she wanted to work for is how she got to where she is. She wants people to understand that it’s not about your degree but it’s all about your experience. Get out there and start working on your art. It is okay to start small with an internship and slowly you will work up to whatever you are looking for. You will achieve success when you are ready for it. It just takes time.