We had the good fortune of connecting with Cynthia Tran and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cynthia, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk taking is essential and part of any true success story in my opinion. I have always been a high risk/high reward type of person. I believe that extraordinary results never came from comfortable situations. I have come to the understanding that every choice I make contains some amount of risk and that is unavoidable. It’s finding a purpose worth the risk that is important. By accepting and accounting for the risks I take, I know now that it ultimately can only lead to either blessings or lessons.I almost become enthralled by the potential outcome, curious to see how it will strengthen me and how I adapt. In other words, focusing on the reward at hand over the risk. Through personal reflection, I realized that I actually put myself in situations that present a fair amount of risk and challenge, only to confirm that I am capable of overcoming any obstacle and resolving any situation within my own means if I dedicate my heart and mind to the task at hand. I believe the challenges presented with facing your fears head on and being able to accept the risk implied, helps you grow and take responsibility for your impact in the world. You are assessing the importance of the decisions you are about to make and you must take pride in every step. Being a fine art photographer and working with nude art, plus being a self-employed business owner, I took a huge risk when I decided to quit my corporate job to solely rely on my own creativity and effort as my means for survival. I was comfortable where I was at. I loved the people that I worked with, but my intuition convinced me that I was capable of so much more. So, I took the risk of leaving my mundane job to pursue a passion that meant much more to me. I took a risk when I defied the standards that were expected of me; from my family, my friends, my associates, In return, I have been rewarded with the freedom to expand my photography business into what I want to represent myself as. I have been rewarded with the willpower, the motivation, and the encouragement to discover my own talents, ultimately connecting me with likeminded individuals that align with my vision and purpose. I have been rewarded with the responsibility of changing my community, expressing my inner world, and inspiring other creatives to pursue their own passions and know that they can not only survive, but THRIVE through relentless pursuit after the things they love, no matter how much risk, denial, or rejection they may face.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a fine art photographer that uses visual imagery, nature, nudity, and real, human conversations to compose a dialogue of empowerment, freedom, and acceptance for women out there through naturalization, not just hyper-sexualizing it. I started off with photography first at 13, taking pictures everywhere I traveled to with my family. I discovered nude modeling as soon as I turned 18. It opened a new realm of existence to me that allowed me to freely share my stories, my interests, my innate personality, without judgment and rather fond acceptance. Coming from such a strict household and traditional upbringing, it was an eye-opening experience for me and introduced me into the world of fine art and fashion. It helped me explore the world around me, as well as the dialogue internally in my mind. Through personal experience being on the other side of the lens, I got to learn a lot of useful skills for my own photography and what I enjoyed doing most, which was shooting/modeling nude in nature. Being in the wilderness brought out in me a version of myself that I knew was there, merely buried under the dirt and unattended to. I got to see the seasons change along with the people and I learned so much about myself: the things that I am most drawn to, the capabilities of my body with all of its endurance, the ignition of passion and love, the ease of creating in that headspace, the multiple facets of all you could be; already are. I became in tune with the time of light, the way it shines against human skin, the way the form can manipulate or change it, and basically educated myself on my own human anatomy. Something I was so out of touch from, so afraid to discover, so fearful of being seen, I now can understand and make art out of. All the thoughts that were on my mind could be exalted through this medium, through the creative passion that inspires me because it inspired others. Not to mention, all of this is happening while I get to work with talented individuals that truly shaped my way of seeing life. That was the beautiful part. I also discovered the amount of lack in professionalism, the shady parts and lack of clear standards in the nude modeling industry. I had to face a lot of scrutiny from my family, my peers, and it affected my personal relationships. I had to sacrifice (we talked about risk earlier) a lot to define my own standards of what I wanted to represent myself as. I feel as though I was faced with a certain amount of defiance from life, but I know I would rather be comfortable with myself at the end of the day before I can comfort anybody else. I also knew I needed to change the industry and not be another part of it and being okay with the harassment I had received, or constantly feeling like I had to be uncomfortable for the sake of art. All of this put me on a mission to make sure I uphold the sacredness of femininity even more, and it put me on the path to excel at my art because I had a clear message for my receiving audience. You must show up for yourself and take responsibility for what you want and what you don’t. So, I learned how to assert my boundaries and figure out what I wanted my art to express and what I wanted to steer clear from. I became very intentional with the results I was producing and whom I worked with. I imagined a new world where I could simply be comfortable in my own skin, and I created it slowly step, by step through the work I personally produced. I see all this beauty in the world and I can relate to it on a deeper level because I see that nature carries itself with grace no matter how many tragic endings it has endured, no matter how many wildfires or hurricanes, it still wakes every morning with a glow on its face. I wouldn’t be able to witness this epiphany without first being connected with it physically and mentally. That’s why I love what I do. This is why I wanted to create a safe space for women to express themselves in the most vulnerable and intimate ways by making it my business model to always uphold the integrity of the feminine nude, for they are the most beautiful to me. We birth children, we give life to all the things around us and we do it with the utmost grace and impeccable dedication. That is something to talk about and share. I also know there is plenty of stigma about nude models and photographers, and that is the sole reason I chose to stay in this field of work. I believe that it has helped me tremendously for my self-confidence, it shined a light onto my own psyche and the voids I were trying to fill at the time, in a healthy and pro-active way. I know that it can be used as a positive outlet if we were able to do it based on our own feminine energy, our own journey to empowerment and not validation, and connect to the roots of our being, as well as the environment around us and beyond us. Now, I host photography retreats called Women & Wildlife. Founded in 2018, it comprises of nude photography in nature as a vulnerable act of acceptance, for oneself and others. We utilize our differences as strengths and not flaws. We are reminded of our impact to the earth around us by how we treat the people around us. We hold each other down when the winds get rough, and we hold each other up when we traverse another adventure together. We do nude yoga, hiking, meditation, and eat food that is made with love and intention, to hold open conversations full of intimacy, vulnerability, transparency, and acceptance. I want to provide all the experiences to engage women in discovering their inner voice, their passions, their abilities, their unique perspectives, and learn from each other. We are able to tackle challenges together as part of the process through the strenuous hikes, and then we take time to self-care through relaxing activities such as swimming, sound healing, or reiki, and simply be engulfed by the beauty around us. We get to travel to different locations in different seasons and meet new people each time. I want to remind them just how amazing and unique they each are, and to remind them that they provide something of extreme importance, they simply have to find it and share it. Women are a vital role to the community at large, to life in general; a portal to the future and the past and I carry this thought with me into every new day. I am tremendously fueled by my passions because they all stem from my own personal life; the traumas, the experience, the lessons, the knowledge I’ve gained over the years. It all comes from personal experiences and the choices that make me or break me. My photography is what catches the eye, but I always hope and remind myself that my words and my actions will be the reason you stay, the reason you may participate, and the reason you will be inspired to share something you are interested in and dare to live your life doing what you love. I am always finding ways to let my lessons and my blessings guide me through life and empower me, let your story do the same for you.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Some of my favorite spots to hang out in Dallas area would be near Trinity Groves or Bishop Arts District. Some of the best chocolate you can find will be at those two places. For brunch on Sunday’s, I love to go to

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
All the credit in the world belongs to the people around me, before me, and those that will come after me. I want to recognize my parents first and foremost. Even though they did not live their lives with creativity at the forefront of every aspect, they worked tirelessly in their own careers to provide me the opportunity to pursue the work that I do now. They showed me what perseverance, dedication, and determination can accomplish through their consistency. My parents were both immigrants that came here with literally nothing and built their wealth into something that they can pass onto their children. I apply their tenacity and strength into my everyday life and I always remind myself that anything is possible because of them. The root of family drove their success and I take pride in that. Nothing I accomplish would have come to fruition without the inspiration that my son has brought into my life. With all of my ideas and talents, I had no drive to initiate or share with the world until he came along. He gave meaning to the purpose in this life. He showed me what unconditional love means and gave me renewed hope to create a better world for us to live in. He helped me understand the impact that our choices can make in another person’s life, and I take pride in the direction of my life and the choices I make because of this important lesson. I want to retain his imagination and keep it alive, by sparking my own and fueling my fire to persevere through my journey, no matter how hard it is. On the business side of my creative work, my partner has been the grounding force for it all. He has taught me how to be a good leader and how to use my voice to speak up for the things I care about. We have been together for three years now and I have grown tremendously more than I ever have, personally and professionally. He sets an amazing example on how to lead a business and still remain personal, caring, and acknowledging every individual’s talents and contribution through his own unique leadership skills. He keeps me levelheaded and disciplined in my pursuit, always encouraging me to aim for the stars, while providing so much support to the family and my hectic schedules at times. I believe that without him, I wouldn’t dare to change the world, much less think about it or believing that it could even be possible. I knew I had the right ideas, all the capability in the world, but he has been my navigation and guidance through it all. Last but not least, my success is fully owed to the community of women that I have built through my personal journey. In the act of authentically trying to express my thoughts, my visions, and my ideas, I have genuinely found a tribe of humans that resonate with my story. It made me realize how interconnected we are on an emotional level. It made me realize that we all have a story to share, and I aim to share it all. Through the cycle of aspiring to inspire, I am honored with hearing stories from strangers about their own lives and how my words, my creativity, and my photos have inspired them. The women that have now become friends to me, fueling my fire everyday with their loving words and vicariousness. It means the world to me as my journey has simply been a coping mechanism for me to understand life around me and to share my emotions in ways I couldn’t have before, but now it can help another person, too. My message, my purpose, and my identity becomes clearer through every interaction with all the people in my life. They support my crazy ideas, my wild endeavors, and they trust in me. I couldn’t buy that. I am honored to be heard, to feel so accepted, and I wouldn’t be where I am at now without the support of those people in my life. The people that stand by the same message of love. The people that love art and expression as much as I live by it. They add value to the work I do and continue to do so everyday with their own ideas, stories, and journeys.

Website: http://cynthiadtran.com
Instagram: @cynthiadtran
Twitter: @cynthiadtran
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CynthiaDTran/
Other: https://www.pinterest.com/cynthiadtran/boards/

Image Credits
Thomas Perez