Shutterbug Brightens City Hall

ZEPHYRHILLS - When you're dropping off your water bill at City Hall this month, you might notice a little something special on the walls:

Photographs. Lots of them.

There are shots of chateaus in France, giant lily pads in the Amazon River, lighthouses in coastal Michigan.

The name of the photographer might surprise you, too. It's Cliff McDuffie, the mayor of Zephyrhills.

Although the temporary display is meant to bring beauty to a run-of-the-mill government building, it also acts as a lens into McDuffie's private life. For example, you'll learn that McDuffie, 73, is an avid traveler. Get him talking about his pictures, and you'll hear about howler monkeys in Costa Rica, the Red Light District in Amsterdam and sunrises on the Amazon River in Peru.

This summer, he and his wife, Joyce, clocked more than 4,000 miles on the road driving from Florida to Tennessee to Illinois to Michigan and back. Several photographs from the trip are hanging in City Hall.

"Hey, why not?" said McDuffie, who spent 20 years working for the Tampa Chamber of Commerce and several years at the Zephyrhills chamber.

On trips, McDuffie always has his camera by his side. It's a hobby he picked up in his early 30s that eventually led to a part-time business venture.

"I had two kids and started taking their pictures. People said, 'Won't you come take my wedding pictures?' Then the friends of the brides called me. I never advertised. Every weekend, I would have one, sometimes two weddings."

McDuffie got the idea to display his photos when he saw a collection of west Pasco-based photographers present their pictures in Zephyrhills City Hall. He figured he could help represent the east side of the county and maybe inspire others to put their art out there, too.

"Maybe if I put my stuff out, maybe people will say, 'Hey, I can do that, too,'" he said.

IF YOU GO

Zephyrhills City Hall, 5335 Eighth St., is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.