I am an Oakland-based photographer working primarily with film. My background is multidisciplinary, spanning community mental health, social work, and nonprofit arts. After a decade working in these fields, I dipped my toes into freelance photography in 2023.
Human relationships, photography as collaboration, feminist identity, and self exploration are central to my work. My practice explores themes of belonging, identity, imagination, re-imagination, and photography as witness.
My work spans portraiture, weddings, travel, cyanotypes, and community based projects. In 2025, I created Photo Saloon, a photography gathering rooted in care, creative exchange, and the uplift of local Bay Area women+ photographers. I also work with Women Photo Tours leading trips to Cuba.
I am available for assignments locally and worldwide.
catherinecoppenrath@gmail.com
ohlone land / oakland, ca
EXHIBITIONS
2025 | Group Photography Exhibition | Jettison Creative | San Francisco, CA
2018 | 10th Annual Dia De La Mujer Exhibition | The Front Arte Cultura | San Ysidro, CA
2018 | Women In Light | San Diego City College | San Diego, CA
2017 | Ladies First - An All Female Group Show | San Diego, CA
2016 | B&W Analog Group Show | San Diego, CA
PARTICIPATORY + COMMUNITY BASED PROJECTS
2025 | Photo Saloon | An Oakland based third space centering cis and trans women, non-binary, trans-masculine, and gender expansive photographers offering monthly gatherings to share work.
2019 | Being At Home Project | A mobile participatory photography storytelling project utilizing workshops and community engagement to celebrate and honor diversity in San Diego’s most culturally diverse neighborhood.
2018 | The Power of Empathy | Exhibited at the San Diego Art Institute, this participatory photography project centered the voices of high school aged East African, Muslim women examining cultural and community perspectives on mental health through solidarity building workshops and critical conversation.
2018 | The Civil Liberties Project | Exhibited at The Front Arte Cultura in San Ysidro, this participatory photography project looked at counter-narrative as an important examination of Civil Liberties in the United States such as DACA, gender politics, and immigration.