Marion photographer sees the area through her lens

Apr 24, 2022

MARION – To some people, rusted objects beside the road might look like trash, but for photographer Cathy Broderick, they’re inspiration.

Even as a kid, she was always going out to take photos of rusted and broken things that she felt could make an interesting photo.

Broderick says that landscape and nature photography can sometimes fall on the “back burner” due to her portrait photography business, but she’s always been drawn to “finding the beauty in the mundane.”

Broderick also has taught classes and workshops for different groups, ranging from high school seniors to professionals. She will host one of these workshops at the Marion Art Center for the SouthCoast Spring Arts festival on May 7, from 5-7 p.m.

The workshop is about learning to look at the world through the lens of lighting and composition, and looking for the beauty around you. Broderick describes this type of photography as “what she does for fun” and has examples posted on her website.

“I came up with this idea because we live in a beautiful area and it’s nice to appreciate it more,” she said. “There’s not just the sunset or the beach, there’s beauty everywhere here, even right on the side of the road.”

Photography is in Broderick’s blood. The daughter of award-winning photojournalist Jack Cryan, she had great encouragement in her passion, despite their different photographic interests.

“He was always photographing news and I wanted to photograph portraits,” explained Broderick. “But he was always there to answer my questions and provide me equipment over the years.” She described Cryan’s interest in antique cameras, which he would go to estate sales to purchase and restore, and Broderick has many of them now.

When it comes to her portrait photography, Broderick says that she enjoys being her own boss.

“It’s great, you make your own schedule and your own rules, but you also have to do everything,” she said, noting that it was especially great as her kids were growing up and she could work her schedule around them.

Cathy Broderick brought her photography business to Marion after moving to town from Bridgewater in 2020.

Broderick will soon finish up construction on her photography studio, right in her own yard as a separate room above her family’s new garage. Broderick schedules photo sessions for families, high school senior portraits, pets, or businesses in need of portraits or branding.

She doesn’t do weddings or events. “I hone in on the stuff that I’m best at,” she said.

Despite the new studio, Broderick has been running her business for the past 20 years.

Broderick went to college for communications before attending the New England School of Photography in Boston. She worked in the video field for a few years before having kids and deciding to open her own studio.

She and her husband had their first child in Onset, and after moving away from the area, they always wanted to move back. Twenty years later, when jobs went remote, they seized the opportunity to move to Marion.

“What I love most about my job is meeting different people,” said Broderick. “And different kinds of dogs,” she added.