Today we’d like to introduce you to Cidgy Bossuet.
Cidgy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Growing up, I was not really aware of the art/photography world or expected it to be a career path but, I’ve always had an interest in it. As I reflect, I believe this interest started with my dad. He’s not a photographer but he had a small collection of film cameras mainly to capture family memories and to build our family albums. I eventually became that girl behind the disposable Kodak camera taking photos of family and friends.
I would say my journey began towards the end of high school. My family has a strong background in the health field, so I attended a college preparatory high school for students exploring careers in the health field. During my attendance, I became less interested in pursuing the health field and I began to experiment with photography/mixed media art in Photoshop during my spare time.
Fast forward to senior year, I received an email to apply to The National YoungArts Foundation, an organization that identifies/nurtures the most accomplished young artists in the visual, literary, design and performing art, as well as assists them at critical junctures in their educational and professional development. YoungArts aspires to create a community of alumni that provides a lifetime of encouragement, opportunity, and support. Although, I didn’t know what I was doing with my work, my instincts just told me to apply. Shockingly, a few months later, I received the news that I was one of the 152 finalists chosen from more than 5,000 applicants, selected as a National YoungArts Finalist in Visual Arts (December 2011).
From there, everything happened so fast, I was flown out to Miami in January 2012 to participate in YoungArts Week. During this exciting time, I got the opportunity to meet other artists, take a master class with artist Jean Shin & participate in my first group exhibition at the Miami Art Museum (now named: Pérez Art Museum Miami). By our final night, finalists were officially named National YoungArts Alumni. Being named a YoungArts Alumni along with some previous Notable YoungArts Alumni such as Kerry Washington, Viola Davis, Nicki Minaj, Zuzanna Szadkowski and Vanessa Williams was a true inspiration/motivator. This experience gave me more exposure to the arts and definitely helped me confirm my decision to pursue photography/visual art.
As senior year came to an end, I was no longer interested in pursuing the health field and applied to Massachusetts College of Art & Design, where I received my BFA in photography (May 2016).
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road, one of my main challenges was figuring out what I wanted to focus on after graduating. With photography, it’s important to find your niche in order to master your craft. In school I was doing a lot of fine art work & was never sure which photography genre I wanted to commit to since I generally love photographing everything. I started committing to portrait and lifestyle photography after receiving consistent positive feedback and engagement from individuals on/offline.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Cidgy Bossuet Photo+Artistry story. Tell us more about the business.
To give a little background, while in college, I went by CB Artistry to represent me and my overall artistry, ranging from photography, paintings and mixed media art. At the time, I was experimenting a lot and I saw myself as more of a visual artist using photography as one of my creative mediums. Fast forward to now, I realized it’s best to categorize both my photography/art and decided to rebrand to my full name Cidgy Bossuet Photo + Artistry. Although, I’ve been focusing more on the photography side of things since graduating, I plan to dive back into creating more artistry pieces this year.
Currently, I’m a part-time photographer/ visual artist, as I work as a contractor with other companies on their projects. Recently, I completed a project with a marketing/ advertising agency. I worked as a freelance post-production: photo editor, which involved color correcting/ editing photos for social media and digital content for restaurants and athletes.
Overall with my photography, I specialize in portrait and lifestyle photography but, I also like to work with people on a custom basis with any photography needs they may have.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I believe whether I’ve accomplished something or faced an obstacle has been because of God. I wouldn’t say I believe in luck but, I firmly believe in blessings and that hard work creates opportunities!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cidgybossuet.com
- Email: hello@cidgybossuet.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciciboss/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/cbphotoartistry/
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