cat palmer was born and raised in orange county, california. she got her passion for photography from her grandparents, who raised her,  who had a small black and white dark room in their house.

cat was drawn to capturing the beauty she found in people. at the age of fifteen, her photography teacher told her that her work reminded him of diane arbus. he sent cat to look her up, and cat fell in love. arbus too found the beauty in people. cat started shooting different people who intrigued her  - anyone from the people on the streets of mexico to the homeless people in los angeles.

cat studied photography from 1995-1999. cat used to only shoot 35mm black and white, but she joined the “dark side” of professional digital in 2005. it will never truly be the same – she misses those smelly chemicals. cat has exhibited all over the salt lake valley and has won many awards for her art and photography including 2007, 2008 & 2011’s Arty’s award from city weekly. she won best in show at the utah arts festival in 2009.

women are cat’s main subjects because, to her, they have such beauty and strength. since 2007 she has been focused on art with a message. some of her themes have been: self-esteem, peace, self-reliance, i am human,  there’s no place like home, peace to the middle east, age of aesthetics in defying societies definition and super hero women. her next project is 'i have a secret'. she has been collecting secrets from women all over the world for over a year. the exhibit will take place at the grey wall gallery inside of the SLC arts hub (663 W 100 S) on october 19th 6-10pm.