Cathleen Campbell has been photographing Harlem for decades but only recently began exhibiting her work. She mostly worked as an independent filmmaker, assisting on numerous productions, before starting to write and direct her own short films. Her films have been televised nationwide and played in several festivals.
Campbell got her first camera at age 6. She took terrible pictures but loved the whole experience, even if her gifts were not understood by others. Her mother introduced her to the Arts. Her father gave Campbell her first professional camera at age 14.
After a bad experience in her first photography class as a freshman at Yale, she never took another photography class there. She discovered the importance of learning outside the classroom. Campbell doesn’t call herself a self-taught photographer, because she’s learned from many different types of people in so many ways.
Since returning to the serious practice of photography in 2014, Campbell’s work has been included in 2 solo shows (including VISIBLE/INVISIBLE, SEEN/UNSEEN: HARLEM PORTRAITS BY CATHLEEN CAMPBELL at the Hamilton Grange Library in 2023/24, which was featured in a Spectrum NY-1 News story: https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/human-interest/2024/01/16/harlem-photographer-cathleen-campbell-focuses-her-lens-on-her-neighbors) and 18 group shows in numerous galleries, (including WILDSTYLE 40 at Deitch NY). You can see her photos + get more exhibit info on her website: https://cccpix.com/previous-exhibits.
