thePULSEBy Tine Roycroft
Worcester photographer/fine artist Hillarie Jason has a hardcore client list that would strike fear into the heart of most mere mortals. She’s captured incredible live shots of killer bands including Slayer, Anthrax and Corrosion of Conformity. While hundreds of crazed fans are rocking out to the dark metal waves of musical madness, Jason can be found slinking unseen through the crowd, a vampire seeking her one prey ~ a perfect shot that represents the emotional power of the performance.
“I look for a number of things when taking these photos,” Jason says. “I look for how the band makes me feel when I’m watching them ~ there’s a level of excitement. And after doing this for a while, you can anticipate when things are going to happen on stage. You just wait for the right moment. I always want to get the shot that no one else got.”
Jason delved into the world of photography on a whim. She’d taken a few courses during high school and while studying at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, but it wasn’t until she started going to the shows of a friend’s band that it really became a love.
“I started taking pictures on my cell phone, of all things,” Jason remembers. “People really liked them and I had a lot of fun. I actually had some cell phone pictures featured in an exhibit at the Worcester Art Museum called “Who Shot Rock & Roll.”
According to Jason, there is one band that got away, but she hasn’t given up hope. She’s loved Iron Maiden since she was 12 and would leap at the opportunity to snap some pics of them.
In addition to being a photographer, Jason works with bands to create album cover art that evokes deep emotion while accurately representing the group’s vision. She’s made covers for Blacksoul Seraphim, Faces of Bayon, and Sorrowseed.
With their unique drama, the creations the viewer take immediate notice: a winged, human-like creature with a skull head steadies himself on gray ground, a monstrous hand attempts to hold or control a bright ball of power as a human hand attempts to do the same, a warped, blight-infected tree finds no relief below a polluted sky.
Whatever the vision, Jason, armed with her oil paints, can rise to the challenge.
“It really depends on what the band is looking for,” she says. “Usually, if they come to me, they know that my scenes are typically dark. So they’re not looking for scenes of daisies. Depending on the band, they can come to me with a very clear vision of what they want and I try to provide them with it.”
The future is wide open for Jason, who wants to fill her days with even more photography and painting and possibly return to one of her earlier loves that has fallen by the wayside ~glassblowing.
“The sky’s the limit,” says Jason. “The possibilities are endless.”
For more info, go to www.hillariejason.com
Top Right: “Memento Mori”
Bottom Left: Album cover for the band Blacksoul Seraphim.
