Todd McLellan
Beginning
I have always been interested in graphic design and began to pursue it in 1995 after graduating from high school. After working at various jobs and doing airbrush design on the side I decided that an education in the field would be best. I attended a canadian art college called Alberta College of Arts & Design. Originally taking the design courses they offered, I discovered that was not the approach that I wanted to take and shifted my studies to Photography. There I spent 3 years mastering the art of photography graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2002. I left my western Canadian home and arrived in eastern Canada to the metropolitan city of Toronto. In Toronto I assisted the prominent Canadian Photographer, Shin Sugino for four years, furthering my digital knowledge. In 2006 I joined Sugino as their first represented artist.
Disassembly
I have primarily worked in the advertising photography world. My interest in the real has always been present and I try to mix my work with that. In my series disassembly, I have used old items that are no longer used by the masses and often found on the street curbs heading for disposal. All of the items in the photographs were in working order. The interesting part was the fact that they were all so well built, and the parts were most likely put together by hand. I envisioned all the enjoyment these pieces had given many people for many years, all to be replaced by new technology that will be rapidly replaced with half the use. I had shot two scenarios the first where they were all laid out in the order in which they were taken apart, almost like a family portrait. In the second scenario, I thought of it as setting the parts free. I shot in near complete darkness and then dropped the parts from a ladder setting off the flash at the appropriate time. These images were captured in mid air with the new Bron Scoro Packs. Ever since first laying my hands on a Bron system I have never thought of going back. The transition from the Grafit A4 to the Scoro was seamless. They both have their uses and are integral to my image making but the Scoro is what I needed for this application.
Still Life
A lot of my still life is created from what has happened in life. Designs that are beautiful, objects that are unique or items that need to be represented. I love working with light and how objects react and reflect. It’s all about the details and although not all perfect each one has some history. Cans that get burnt in a campfire, bulbs that explode, Chickens that used to be a very important part of life have all just become something uninteresting.
