Cynthia Vickers

Artist Statement

My work explores the expression of the sacred in the familiar. I decontextualize the subject, opening the image to a place where spirit abides for that moment, a place where viewers are drawn into the now the photograph as meditation.

Typically, my subjects are things most people over look or cast aside, i.e., lawn weeds, decaying palm fronds, rusty gears. The choice of subject comes intuitively. I look for the light within shadow, gesture within form. I seek subjects whose structures evoke breath, energy and movement in their stillness.

I use slower shutter speeds, double exposures, and often macro photography to explore my subjects. Even an iPhone may come into play. Black and white, sepias, and historical processes make an appearance. My lens creates a universe within the frame where the ordinary becomes quietly extraordinary.

I offer my work to viewers as a humble meditation , a place to seek solace, insight, refuge. A place to center, a place to find the sacred.

Biography

A near-native of St. Petersburg, FL, Cynthia has been making pictures of family, friends, pets, and places most of her life, but began serious study of photography in 2006. She has always considered herself a documentary photographer but has recently discovered the secret pleasures of contemplative photography. Cynthia founded the Florida Photographic Collaborative in 2009. She has won several awards for her work, including a two-time recipient of the Beth Reynolds Photography Award at the Morean Art Center.

 After founding and acting as co-director of Walden Private Middle School in Gulfport, FL for 15 years, Cynthia joined the Journeys in Journalism magnet program as a photojournalism teacher at John Hopkins Middle School in St. Petersburg, FL.

Cynthia resides in St. Petersburg, FL with her husband, Mark, and their two wonder cats. She works for the Dalí Museum.

Exhibition History (CV)