Today we’d like to introduce you to Ken.
Ken, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m a New Jersey-based photographer, and I like to say I photograph faces and spaces. That means everything from portraits and corporate headshots to small businesses and real estate photography.
I was born and raised in Brooklyn and growing up I was always more of an observer than the center of attention. As a proud introvert, I learned to pay attention to people, their expressions, body language and the small moments that reveal a person’s personality. Those qualities became some of my greatest strengths as a portrait photographer. When photographing people, I try to create an environment where they feel comfortable to be themselves.
I’ve always had an eye for design and a love for visual storytelling. After studying graphic arts, communications, and photography, my career took me through the printing and advertising industries before I found photography as a career. I worked as an assistant photographer, then a freelance photographer, and then joined McGraw-Hill Companies as the staff photographer for 16 years.
At McGraw-Hill, I photographed everything from still-life and photo illustrations to children, executives and environmental portraits in the studio and on location. It was an incredible training ground that taught me not only the technical side of photography but also how to connect with people and adapt to a variety of situations.
In 2007 I started my own photography business. In the beginning, I photographed a little bit of everything, including editorial work, corporate events, weddings and portraits. As my business evolved, so did my focus. About seven years ago I expanded into real estate photography, and today my work is primarily corporate headshots, portraits, small businesses and real estate photography.
Although I enjoy the variety these specialties offer, portraiture has always been closest to my heart, especially environmental portraits that capture people in places that are meaningful to them.
Today, my photography is represented across three websites, each dedicated to a different specialty: cavanaghportraits.com for portraits and corporate headshots, kencavanagh.com for small businesses, portraits and personal work, and kencavanghphoto.com is for my real estate photography.
Whether I’m photographing a corporate executive, a small business, or a beautifully designed home, my goal is always the same, to create images that are authentic, engaging, and tell a story.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Photography is a business that certainly had its up and downs in general and for me. The path has shifted quite often, from film to digital capture, presenting and marketing one’s work to the economic and Covid slowdowns to AI affecting the market.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am proud of some of my personal work which I’ve been recognized by the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) for 1st Place, Travel Series – ASMP Best of 2024 (Second Line, New Orleans) and 2nd Place – The Independent Photographer 2025 Landscape Award for one of my Iceland photographs.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I’m always looking for interesting people, artists, crafts people and businesses to photograph. I also hire photo assistants for corporate assignments.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cavanaghportraits.com/ https://kencavanagh.com/ https://www.kencavanaghphoto.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kencav/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kencavanagh/
Image Credits
©Ken Cavanagh
