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Q&A With Photographer Todd McDonald

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Esther Hammer

Published: November 30, 2007

TAMPA Fine art photographer Todd McDonald, 48, may have grown up in Iowa and only lately moved come to Tampa, but his primary passion these days is his adopted city and the opportunity for photographs it presents to him.

He won the grand prize in this year's American Institute of Architects' photography contest with a photograph of one of Tampa's tall downtown buildings, skyscrapers, the SunTrust building on East Jackson Street. Now he aspires to become Tampa's next photographer laureate.
He pursues this dream by taking photos of familiar local places that have some kind of Old World allure to him.

Q. Why do you want to be Tampa's photographer laureate?

A. Because I know I can come up with a cutting-edge, world-class black-and-white collection of Tampa, especially old Tampa. There really hasn't been anything done since the Burgert Brothers brothers in terms of focus on the architectural heritage of old Tampa. That chapter of architecture is far from complete, and I think there are a lot of old dynamic vistas to be captured. It would be "19th century theme meets 20th century digital technology."

Q. So you are drawn to scenes that have some kind of Old World charm in them. What do you hope to achieve in taking pictures of them?

A. I'm striving to capture the visual poetry in landscapes and buildings. I connect with architecture. And it's also all about the light.

Q. What photographers have inspired you in your work?

A. I love Ansel Adams. I love his vision, and the quality of light in his pictures is nothing less than inspiring. He achieves a poetic juxtaposition of foreground and background. I was also inspired by Eugene Atget's old photos of Paris and his dreamy poetic vision. I was just enamored of this beautiful enchanting light he caught of the old sections of Paris. There was rich contrast and incredible detail.

Q. How did you get into photography?

A. I was getting a master's degree in Spanish in Barcelona [through a program at the University of Central Florida] during the late 1980s, and I actually ended up staying there for seven years. I was just so inspired walking around and seeing all these old buildings. What changed my life was when I went into a bookstore that specialized in photographs and the images just deeply touched me. Later I was able to study photography formally in Barcelona.

Q. Besides being photographer laureate, what are your goals with regard to photography?

A. I would like to do creative portraiture in black and white. And I would like to revisit Europe because Europe is so rich in landscapes and architecture. My tools are better than they were, and I would love to go back and reshoot some scenes.

Esther Hammer

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