SOMETHING FOR ME

I was knee-deep and wading through the quicksand of motherhood when photography came into my life. "Something for me" were the words that ran through my mind.

It was my life-raft to keep me afloat on the days when I thought I was drowning and could no longer tread water. I felt like I had little time for myself and was lost in the mothering of 5 children.

I didn't know where they ended and where I began as often we were entangled, a tangled mess.

Somehow, taking photos elevated me from my ordinary and connected me to my creativity. It's taught me to see, observe, find, discover, wait, and hold my breath through the moment's beauty.

INSPIRATIONS

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Cindy Cavanagh is an artist who sparks joy in the ordinary. Her painterly portraits are scenes that feel like someone has just stepped away. She uses colour and light to portray visual stories with deep emotion. Cindy's work is deeply rooted in nostalgia, belonging, and motherhood.

She is a co-author of Lanterns: Illuminating Storytellers (Published in 2022), the For the Love of the Photograph creative journal (Published in 2020), and co-editor in chief of the Long Way Home magazine (2014-2017).

She created DUETS: A diptych series which is published through Blurb.

Cindy was featured in the Phlock Spotlight Exhibition and a finalist in the Click community Voice Competition in 2021. Cindy was nominated in the top 100 Female Photographers to Watch by Clickin Moms and published in the magazine “This Detailed Life” in 2020. She was also a presenter at Phlock Live and Phlock Thrive and Shine. She placed as a semifinalist in the Head On Photo Awards along with Chloe Lodge and was published in the magazine “Bella Grace” in 2019. She received first place in the Lifestyle Portrait for Child Photo Competition in 2015 and first place in the Child category for the Lemonade and Lenses 2014 Summer competition.

Cindy has spoken on the You Belong Podcast with Photo Native, The Creative Frame Podcast with Allison Jacobs and with finally with Melinda Edwards

PERSONAL PROJECTS

Her personal work guides her art, and Cindy has completed two series and two ongoing collections.

Colour of Light (2018) is a collection of diptychs celebrating colour by pairing a still life image with a portrait to tell an unexpected story.

Duets (2020) is a diptych collection to observe and honour the seasons through food and flowers. It's ordinary produce, often found at the supermarket, to connect with nature and the sense of nostalgia that comes with the seasons.

"Painterly" is an artistic collection of portraits that use colour and light to create a visual story. Cindy uses creative techniques to break free from photography's rules and finds something magical in the blur.

Her current personal project is Be Seen, Mama. This is a motherhood project that illuminates motherhood's many stages, from pregnancy to being a grandmother or beyond.

CREATIVE COACH

Besides her photography and published work, Cindy mentors creatives and photographers to create from within and listen to their intuition.

She uses a gentle voice to encourage the artist to look inwards and to observe, see, feel, listen and ultimately make stuff.

She never expected this joy from her photography. After six years and over 70 artists later, she hopes to keep encouraging others to fill the frame with what they love.