INTERVIEW: TESSA PAISAN — For The Wolves HQ

Introducing TESSA, one of the baddest bitches in the game. You may know her from her incredible photos of some of the biggest artists in the world. No?

Ok, you’ve mistaken her as a DJ’s girlfriend backstage before? (even though she was probably holding a camera, and music photographers generally spend a lot of time backstage)

Well, you would definitely know her from Twitter. The best and most outrageous account on EDM twitter, by a fucking mile.

Tessa is an incredible photographer from Florida, who is currently touring with Rezz, and in her spare time making the world a better place, one tweet at a time.

How did it all begin?

I first started out taking photos of locals around my home town of Naples, FL, which is hilarious because the first show I ever shot was Dominic Fike and his friends. There were maybe 20 people in the crowd at this small venue in Fort Lauderdale, and now he's absolutely blown up. I would take photos for free for EDM magazines etc, and eventually started interning with Dancing Astronaut.

Once I felt my portfolio was solid I eventually started taking bookings from artists. Rezz was one of the first people to really notice and appreciate my photography. At the time I was still with Dancing Astronaut. I shot her shows when she came to Orlando and Tampa with Malaa in 2016, and we just kept in touch ever since then.

From then on, everything was a snowball effect, word of mouth is so important in this industry and the more people trusted my vision, the more people wanted to work with me.

Proudest tweet?

LOL. It wasn't my own tweet, but one time lost lands tagged me in a photo and my handle at the time was "Lil homie gay ass" - needless to say I have been bagged from direct photo tags since then. Sorry Excision team!

Your biggest ‘holy shit’ moment?

I have a top 3 I can't choose between…

1- touring internationally with Rezz,

2- bus touring with Liquid Stranger

3 - having my photo on the cover of DJ Mag

Your biggest ‘fuck this’ moment as a photographer?

When people in the crowd distract me repeatedly, especially when I'm taking a video and then they say something into the camera that ruins the audio. Also, sexism. I don't experience sexism anymore really, but when I first was getting started it was very common.

Something on your bucket list?

Tour in Japan or Cuba. Both places I dream of seeing.

Last book you read?

Does Manga Count?

(absolutely)

If so - ‘Tomie’ by Junji Ito.

If you could choose one song to be played at your funeral?

‘Time’ by Pink Floyd. It’s my favourite song ever and something I think about often is time and how it doesn't make any sense, it's just a construct to help humans make sense of life.

Your favourite shot ever?

I can choose just one, but my favourite show I've ever shot was Rezz at Red Rocks.

Wildest thing you’ve shot?

I think taking photos at Ultra Europe was the wildest experience for me, mainly because Ultra Miami was the first festival that made me fall in love with electronic music. So to be there was just a crazy dream. When it comes to subject matter though, the wildest thing I've ever photographed is self portraits of me, I have a lot of weird ones in the archives lol.

Someone person you’d kill to shoot?

Billie Eilish!!!!!! I love her so much, her energy and shows look incredible. That would be my absolute goal.