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About Cathy Church’s art

For more than fifty years, Cathy Church has transformed the ocean’s quiet beauty into images that have shaped the very language of underwater photography. A biologist-turned-artist, she pioneered techniques still taught worldwide, wrote the field’s first best-selling guides, and inspired thousands of divers through her Cayman-based photo centre. Her work spans documentary precision, vibrant seascapes, and imaginative digital compositions—each print crafted to last and personally inspected before it leaves the studio.

Owning a Cathy Church photograph means holding a piece of diving history and supporting a lifelong advocate for marine conservation. Whether you choose a classic film image or a piece from her contemporary Imagination Collection, your purchase brings the wonder of the sea into your space while fueling Cathy’s ongoing mission to share, teach, and protect the underwater world.

 

Cathy has proudly supported and sponsored the following organiazations

DEMA (Dive Equipment and Marketing Association)

The Historical Diving Society

Natural Resources Defense Council

Sea Save

Cayman Islands Tourism Association

National Trust of the Cayman Islands

Divers Alert Network

The Cayman Islands Humane Society

Save our Leatherbacks.org, Shark Trust

Women Divers Hall of Fame scholarships

PAWS

Cathy Church

Cathy has been taking photos underwater since 1965. She is a pioneer of photo techniques and is in six SCUBA halls of Fame. Her work has been published in hundreds of magazines, that include diving titles, travel magazines, newspapers, and scientific journals. She is an expert marine biologist with a keen eye for animal identification and behavior. Her long history with cameras and diversity makes her proficient with the latest models.

Her commercial clients have included Kodak, Nikon, USVI, the cruise industry, and Atlantis Submarine. She works with ad directors to ensure photographs what the client wants, while using her own skills to enhance the image to better fit their needs.

Cathy is also available to travel to other locations, except to dive under the polar ice.

Her latest endeavor was photographing the famed screenwriter J.V. Hart underwater for a chapter in a new book on environmental photography.

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2020
2020
2020

Honored with the Pioneer Award by Beneath the Sea in New Jersey.

2012
2012
2012

Honored as a Diver of the Year for Arts by Beneath the Sea in New Jersey.

2011
2011
2011

Selected as Juror for the 2011 CMAS World Underwater Photography Championship that was held in Bodrum, Turkey.

2009
2009
2009

Selected as Juror and chairman of the Jury for the Festival Mondial dl L'Image Sous-Marine (the oldest underwater film festival in the world) in Marseilles (previously in Antibes), France. She was also invited to present and to exhibit.

2008
2008
2008

Inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame. View Cathy as a Girl Scout and other historic images in this video made by Jack and Sue Drafahl for her induction. ISDHF Video

2001
2001
2001

Received the Paul Revere Spike award by Boston Scuba Show. This award is made using an actual railroad spike made in Paul Revere's foundry. His standard US is stamped on the spike. Since there are a limited number of these spikes salvaged from USF, the award is a historical pleasure to have.

2000
2000 – 2008
2000 – 2008

Chosen to be on the founding Board of Governors of the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame, hosted by the Cayman Islands. She remained as executive secretary for another two years after her term was up.

2000
2000
2000

Received the prestigious "Reaching Out" award from DEMA` (Diving Equipment and Marketing Association) for her work encouraging people to enjoy diving. View an historic video produced for Cathy's induction.

2000
2000
2000

She was inducted into the Woman Divers Hall of Fame  

1993
1993
1993

Charter recipient of the SSI Platinum Pro 5000 Card.

1991
1991
1991

Awarded the "Creativity Magazine" certificate of Distinction for best travel poster with her image on theCayman Islands poster "Wonderland."

1985
1985
1985

Received a NOGI award for the Arts from the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences. She was President of the Academy in 1999 - 2000, and again from 2011 through 2013.

1971
1971
1971

Cathy won her first underwater photo contest while she was at the University of Hawaii. The photo was taken with a Calypso camera and a 1:1 extension tube made by Marker Buoy in Washington, and some type of flash system, probably a flash cube on a handle made by Underwater Photo Systems Inc. They called it their UPSI Daisy.

Select Articles by Cathy Church

 

Swimming Against the Tide by Jim Cornfield: Biography of Cathy Church's Work Environmental Portraiture: A Complete Guide to the Portrait Photographer’s Most Powerful Imaging Tool by Jim Cornfield

 

Swimming Against the Tide by Jim Cornfield: Biography of Cathy Church's Work

 

Swimming Against the Tide by Jim Cornfield: Biography of Cathy Church's Work

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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