HEARING Catherine O’Donnell talk about how she moved into photography after a successful career in magazine journalism, you can almost imagine her being described back then as “the accidental photographer”. She prefers to use the word “serendipitous” when explaining the sequence of events that took her from editing an in-flight magazine for TUI (“Ironically, I’m quite scared of flying”) to taking pictures at a friend’s wedding in Menorca, which led to her first wedding photography commission. “I’d always taken pictures but I’d never ever considered it as something I could do as a career,” she says when recalling that first paid shoot. Up until then, Catherine had used some of her photos as reference studies for paintings, but the success of that wedding made her re-evaluate her photography. And that’s not all. While photographing the guests, there was something else – correction, someone else – she saw while looking through the viewfinder who was to have an even greater impact on her life and career. From that moment, Catherine’s photography and personal life would become inseparable…
Was painting your first love in terms of artistic expression?
I went to university and studied fine art and media. I’ve always painted, I’ve always drawn and I’ve always taken pictures, but painting was certainly my first love – I used to take pictures, thinking “I’ll paint that at another date.” Then photography took over when I took some time out in my late 20s and went travelling, taking a lot of photos, capturing my adventures. When I came back, one of my best friends was getting married in Menorca, so I flew out there. I had my first little DSLR with me and afterwards I sent round a link of the pictures I’d taken to all the guests in
