Today we’d like to introduce you to Cecily de la Peña.
Cecily, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I fell in love with photography in college, when I studied abroad for a semester in Parma, Italy. Over those six months, I had so many opportunities to explore different surroundings and cultures, and I brought my camera with me everywhere. I began to realize, through this experience, how powerful photography could be as a tool to not only communicate how I saw my own world, but also to capture glimpses into other perspectives and lives. Traveling with a camera allowed me to document the incredible moments I experienced, and to share my memories with my friends and family back home.
At the time, my photography was still just a hobby. I have always been a naturally creative person, but growing up, I never really embraced that creativity. I studied International Studies in college, and immediately following graduation, took a job as a corporate paralegal. I remember feeling, at the time, no real sense of fulfillment – that while I wasn’t sure what exactly I was looking for, I believed that there had to be more to life than what I was experiencing. I wasn’t able to fully articulate it then, but I had this vague notion that life could be this absolutely incredible thing, if I could only discover the defining factor that would give it purpose and meaning.
I wanted, desperately, to find that. Two years after college, I went in search of answers. I left my job as a paralegal, and for the first time in my life, I made it a point to really trust in my intuition and listen to what I wanted out of life. I knew, without fully knowing why, that I needed to return to Italy; that somehow, that was where I would find some of the answers I was seeking. I had always loved to cook, and I decided this was the perfect opportunity to explore that interest further. I enrolled in a culinary program at a private hospitality school in Florence and moved to Italy for an entire year.
This was a turning point in my life, but not necessarily in the way that I expected. While I enjoyed learning how to cook professionally, I found myself spending all of my time outside the kitchen exploring the city with my camera. Taking photographs gave a me new sense of purpose – a reason to seek out places where I might not otherwise go, to connect with people that I might not otherwise meet, and to see my surroundings in an entirely new way. It provided me a very different perspective on life and it allowed me to communicate everything that I was experiencing. What had previously been “just a hobby” suddenly became a driving force behind so much of what I was doing and, more importantly, a way for me to understand and process it all.
Since returning from Italy, I have worked professionally in both the restaurant industry and the legal field, but photography has remained a constant undercurrent in my life. I rarely go anywhere without a camera, and my photography is constantly evolving, both in terms of the art that I create, and also the role that it plays in my life. I moved back to Boston in 2015, and this past year, I finally started my own photography business, Cecily Tate Photography. It has been an extremely rewarding, albeit often intimidating, experience! Photography has become my way to tell stories: both my own, and the stories of the incredible people I encounter in life.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I am a photographer currently based in Boston, although I travel often. I believe in really living, and I think that life is about constantly seeking adventure, about exploring new places, and most importantly, about the connections you create with other people. I think that it can be something absolutely extraordinary, as long as you stay open to extraordinary things, as long as you let moments happen and let yourself see the magic in those moments, and as long as you allow yourself to stay vulnerable enough to fully experience those things that give you joy and life. I think there is a certain courage in living with intention that is beautiful.
For me, creating photographs is about all of that. And it’s about paying attention. I think we experience life in moments, and I think photography is such a unique medium in that it gives tangible form to that idea: a literal and figurative lens through which to view the world, and a way to give permanence to those moments in our lives that are often so important, yet ephemeral. So much of being a photographer is about training yourself to be present enough to see magic in places where it might otherwise be overlooked – to capture a flash of authentic emotion in a person, to catch the light as it illuminates something for a fraction of a second, to find beauty in unconventional places.
My work is a direct reflection of those beliefs. It is the way that I express how I experience life and see the world. I focus on details and authenticity, and I strive to capture real emotion in the people and places that I photograph, the essence of who and what they are, that thing that makes them completely light up and come alive. Photography is so much about trust and the ability to form a connection. I think it is those two factors that create something extremely special in a photograph.
I hope that, when people view my work, they can experience that connection. I want to be able to capture whatever I am photographing as honestly as possible, so that when someone looks at my art, they are able to understand, on some level, what it is that makes that person or place or object extraordinary. Taking photographs is my way of seeing, feeling, experiencing, processing, and ultimately, expressing myself. In whatever small way I can, I want to inspire people. I hope to convey, through my artwork, how I see the world – to communicate this idea that if you allow yourself to stay open to all of the wonder that it holds, life can be this vibrant, breathtaking, incredible adventure.
Do you think conditions are generally improving for artists? What more can cities and communities do to improve conditions for artists?
I think it is a unique time to be an artist. In some ways, I believe technology has made things easier for artists today. Because of the internet and social media, it is now possible for art to be seen by a much larger audience, with far greater immediacy, and in today’s interconnected world, I think there are considerably more chances to feel like part of a community. There are so many opportunities to interact with like-minded and creative people that can inspire, encourage, and challenge you as an artist.
However, I also think this climate raises significant challenges for artists. Arguably the greatest challenge, in my opinion, is the extent to which quality is so often judged on the basis of collective reaction. In a society influenced so heavily by social media, I think it can be extremely difficult to stay true to your own sense of artistic expression. There is an incredible need for affirmation ingrained in our society, predicated largely on this idea that value is dictated by whether people “like” something or not. It is easy to feed into this, often without even realizing it – to create art motivated more by this need for acceptance than by personal expression. In this climate, it can be easy to lose sight of your individuality.
I believe this is where cities like Boston, and local art communities more specifically, become important. As art today is increasingly accessible, on such a massive scale, it can be challenging to retain a sense of individuality and creativity. Put simply, it often feels difficult to stand out or feel significant. Now more than ever, the individual stories and influence behind artists and their work matters so much to understanding and appreciating art, and I think cities that embrace and encourage local artists are immensely valuable. I believe, while technology creates many exciting new chances for people to connect, there is still no substitute for a real, physical community. Cities like ours, that are already home to such vibrant art communities, have a unique opportunity to create more possibilities for like-minded people to come together, to collaborate, and to celebrate on another’s art in a meaningful way.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
People can see my work on my website, at www.cecilytatephotography.com, or on my Instagram account @cecilytatephotography.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cecilytatephotography.com/
- Email: cecilytatephotography@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cecilytatephotography/
Image Credit:
Cecily de la Peña
Johnny Hwong
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
