© Tim Tadder
He loves warm weather and believes in commitment—to his work and his family. His portfolio bursts with intense shots of celebs, pols and pro athletes alongside marvelous concepts and the occasional tasteful nude. His bio is sprinkled with mega promotions for global brands and creative powerhouses. Yet Tim Tadder—the newspaper-shooting straightforward Baltimore native turned Southern California advertising photographer—is ever evolving. As one of the country’s most sought out campaign shooters, he’s determined not to become pigeonholed as an artist.
Tadder’s personal undertakings are often bundled into a category he calls Cool Projects. WaterWigs, a wild affair using lasers, microphones and high-speed strobes, caught a lot of attention in 2012 including critiques in Wired and the Huffington Post. For APA’s Inspiration series, he talks about two recent personal studies, Couture Children and Las Muretas, the dichotomies of social media and how self-assignments preserve his creative prowess.