Meet Cass Henderson | Photographer & Event Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cass Henderson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cass, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
When I first moved away for college, photography was an easy way for me to connect to my new community and make friends. I started getting asked to take people’s engagement photos, graduation photos – to share in those life moments with them. Which truly is one of the most special feelings in the world, that level of trust and intimacy. I got one booking, then another, then another, until I realized that people actually liked my work enough that I could make money from it. Which was the wildest thing to me. Years passed, and I learned a lot from other small businesses about marketing and branding, and now here we are.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Siren Production came out of a silly camping trip I took with my friends, where we may or may not have ingested some substances, and decided that the name of my business (Cassidy Paige Photography) did not reflect who I had become. We shouted at the moon and argued about it and wound up in a fit of giggles, but the more I thought about it the more I agreed. At that time in my life, I was stepping into my queerness and my spirituality in a bold and unapologetic way (thanks to the drag/burlesque world I was now immersed in) and I wanted the name of my business to reflect that. I was also no longer doing graduation/engagement shoots; I was being booked by artists to photograph their concerts and influencers and models for unique portrait sessions. I have always had a fascination with the sea and would tell people I wanted to be a mermaid when I grew up; clearly I wasn’t going to be sprouting fins anytime soon but maybe I could still be one. That led me to Siren, and “sirenproductions” was already taken on Instagram so I dropped the S.

As far as how my art has evolved, it has truly grown in the directions that I have grown. I still think my best work is always of people that I love. I have known for a long time that if my art is a car, the gas that makes it run are my emotions. Anyone looking at my work is meant to feel and see what I do when I look at my subject. The older I get the better I am at making my work a truly sensory experience, where it feels like you were standing right next to me when I pressed the shutter button.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Denton is small business heaven, and it’s heaven for artists as well. I’ve lived here almost five years and I’m still discovering new little nooks and crannies.

The restaurants I would take them to are Pepitas Vegan Taqueria, Picone, Barley & Board, Loco Cafe, Aglio Pizzeria (also a yoga studio!), Royal Yum, and Mashup Market (the only vegan deli in DFW!). I genuinely believe that Denton has some of the best restaurants in the area.

The best bars in Denton (in my opinion) are Miss Angeline’s, Paschall’s, Harvest House, D20, and Oak Street Drafthouse. Not only are they all within walking distance of each other, the effort put into making those spaces beautiful and warm and welcoming is immediately felt. You can play endless games at D20 and then make your way to Miss Angeline’s to grab a bite from the food trucks. Harvest House has all sorts of community events and concerts, and I am guaranteed every time I go to run into someone I know and love.

Denton is a mecca for insanely talented musicians and it produces notable bands/artists every year due to the prestigious UNT music program. The scene here is robust and thriving; there is always a good show happening at one of the million venues scattered across the city. Rubber Gloves has a show every night, and the people who run it are incredible community members who work tirelessly to give local and traveling bands a platform and a stage. Rubber Gloves is by music lovers, for music lovers. Dan’s Silverleaf is one of the best places in town to catch a drag or burlesque show, and some huge names have played intimate concerts there over the years. Yellow Dog Art Bar is a great spot to catch some local singer/songwriters and paint a canvas or two while you listen!

And finally, Denton has some of the best thrifting I have ever seen. The Denton Mini Mall is a treasure trove of weird, unique objects that you will never be able to find anywhere else. You can spend hours in there just looking through things and arguing with your friends about whether or not they need another vintage Playboy (the answer is always yes). Salvage Shoppe is your one-stop shop for true vintage, where the sizing is not only inclusive but gender-free. They also rent out clothes for photoshoots, which has been an invaluable resource to me. And how could I talk about great Denton places without mentioning our crown jewel, Recycled Books. THE largest selection of all kinds of secondhand books spanning subjects like Russian political history to gardening. I’ve spent hours in there just reading all the different titles and have stumbled upon some very rare gems.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want my shoutout to be a love letter to all the Denton creatives who mentored me and gave me community. Danielle Longueville of WTFemme Productions is a major part of where and who I am today. She gave me a chance in 2021 when my business was brand new and I was still a junior at UNT. I had never done event photography before, had never even been to a drag show before, and she allowed me the opportunity of a lifetime to shoot Glitterbomb and her brand-new festival FemmeFest. She also gave me my tagline on our very first meeting: euphoric high-def grit. She saw me before I even saw me, you know? Now I’ve become the official FemmeFest photographer and we’re already in our third year (June 14th-15th at Rubber Gloves in Denton!) Event photography has become the backbone of my business, and I have become a true drag/burlesque fanatic. She, and the rest of the team at WTFemme, changed the trajectory of my entire life when they gave me that chance and influenced the business owner I would grow into.

Website: https://www.sirenproduction.com

Instagram: @sirenproduction

Image Credits
Personal photo & photo of my camera by @jayd.sun
Rest by me