LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – How would you feel if you got the opportunity to do what you love with your idol? One McNeese State University student earned the right to do just that.
Caitlyn Dionne is an amateur photographer who specializes in equine photography. She said she has been surrounded by horses for as long as she can remember.
Once Dionne was able to pick up a camera, she tells us she never put it down.
“We had a lot of kids who didn’t have horses, and so my mom and her good friend were kind of like the horse club leaders, and they had the idea of let’s try to do events that kids who have horses and kids who don’t can do together and still enjoy, and one of those things is photography,” Dionne said.
Through photography, Dionne was able to show her idol, famous equine photographer Barbara van Cleve, exactly what she was capable of.
“There was something about photography that just clicked for me. I’m not super great with words, English for me was always a subject that I didn’t like, but with a camera, I didn’t have to explain things, I could just show you. And you could also take your own interpretation of what I saw,” said Dionne.
Dionne was selected for the Art of the Cowgirl Fellowship and will spend a week in Arizona with van Cleve soaking up as much new knowledge as she can.
“My mom had known about Art of the Cowgirl, and she kind of told me at one point like you need to do that, I was like umm, I’m not ready. I’m not ready for that, I don’t know about that, and she kind of was like no, you need to do it, and so we applied last year and I really did not think I was going to get it. I was just doing this to make Mom happy,” Dionne said.
Art of the Cowgirl is a fellowship program that is considered very prestigious, and its purpose is to pair less experienced, younger artists with “master artists” for a once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity.
“I’m very blessed. I’m just very happy I’ve been able to take something I love so much and use it as a career,” Dionne said.
Once the week of mentoring is over, Dionne will get an opportunity to showcase and sell her art to the public.
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