M. Thomas Duggan

no permanent address photography

[seesingrain-deactivated20241205]

Over and over and under my skin…

[mthomasduggan]

I can’t get over how much I love this image by @seesingrain

[mthomasduggan]

The results of a recent portrait session with a good old friend with a great young face.  The top one is for me.  The bottom are for him to use as a professional business portrait.  

Photo taken by M. Thomas Duggan

website     |     tumblr     |     facebook     |     instagram     |      twitter

[mthomasduggan]

I recently had the distinct pleasure of photographing some gorgeous paintings created by Ray Bonilla for the purposes of creating slides (now shooting portfolios!) This man is not only incredibly talented, but kind and patient. After hours of working and sweating away in my studio, he agreed to sit for me for a quick portraiture session. More photos to come, but this was one that we both agreed was worth putting out into the world. If you need your business headshot done, I'm your man! Please contact me at 716-331-7838 or send me a private message to set up an appointment.

Photo taken by M. Thomas Duggan

website     |     tumblr     |     facebook     |     instagram     |      twitter

[mthomasduggan]

I love a lot of humans. I love this human a lot. 

Photo taken by M. Thomas Duggan

website     |     tumblr     |     facebook     |     instagram     |      twitter

[mthomasduggan]

A quick edit from today's head shot photo session with native Western New York actor Daniel Henderson. 

[mthomasduggan]

Nothing ventured

We have all heard mentioned that if nothing is ventured, nothing is likely to be gained.  With that in mind, I have relinquished my right to a regular, day-job style, paycheck.  Last week I tendered my bar tending resignation.  As of next week I will be working with my camera in a full-time, self-employed capacity. 

This leap of faith is being made in hopes of gaining and creating: meaningful connections and experiences, images that speak to and foster honesty and growth and if I'm lucky, before my money runs out, a career.   

I would like to thank anybody who has encouraged me to make this leap, through any means and by any degree, throughout the years.  I would also like to thank anyone who might offer continued encouragement, generate referrals, or might sit for me as I practice my craft in the many free hours that are sure to come.

For everyone's reference, the areas that I am most looking forward to working in include (in order of level of interest):

humanitarian / social issues                                                                     traditional / business portraiture                                                           commercial and editorial work (especially of Western New York businesses, bands, and individuals with polished morale compasses)                            travel, cultural, and landscape                                                                      family and life events 

That being said, I am above no form of work, and as such, will take every opportunity offered to me with this hope that each job will help me to fight through a time period of underemployment, on the road to self-employment, and to avoid completely any feelings of unemployment.  

Again, thank you all. Time to get to work!

[mthomasduggan]

Earlier tonight I was lucky enough to shoot these too kooks and the rest of their Alpha Hopper comrades. Lately, I’ve been pleased and flattered to find requests for my photographic skills coming in from all fronts.  I’ve been shooting weddings, elopements (same but different?!), family portraits and now band press packs.  Thank you to everyone for the immense sings of support and faith.   

Photos taken by M. Thomas Duggan

website     |     tumblr     |     facebook     |     instagram     |      twitter

[mthomasduggan]

These are a few recent photos from some time spent roaming through Silo City, a complex of old, formerly used, then unused, grain silos in Buffalo, N.Y. which have been purchased, cleaned and deemed a safe venue for all types of events.  It’s an honor to legally walk through what was once forbidden, though well-trodden territory during my youth.  

Photos taken by M. Thomas Duggan

website     |     tumblr     |     facebook     |     instagram     |      twitter

[mthomasduggan]

Thanks to the hardworking team over at THE PUBLIC ( @publicbflo ) for choosing one of my images to be the center spread in this week's publication. It's truly an honor. Grab this, and future issues, at a variety of your favorite Buffalo businesses! #buffalo #ny #buffalony #printisnotdead #honored #newspaper #weekly Thanks to my handsome younger brother @ryinfinity for hooking it up. Quoth @pat_benetard 'Oh, we didn't tell you?! While you were gone, we figured out how to do ALL THE THINGS!'

[mthomasduggan]

Taking a break from photography in order to finish up 'Tindog' a day-in-the-life video project which tells the story of my experience living, working, and volunteering in post-Haiyan Tacloban in the Philippines. Sorting through all of the material, seeing all of the faces, hearing Waray Waray and Tagalog is filling me with pride, happiness, and an overwhelming urge to get back to what's important. Salamat mga kaibigan ko! #tindog #pilipinas #ph #philippines #tacloban #pusongpilipino #salamat #video #happy #haiyan #yolanda #peacecorps #leyte #bangon #travel #adventure

[mthomasduggan]

The Russian Market, which is locally called Toul Tom Poung, is a popular tourist destination when touring around Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  This market doesn't look like much from the outside, but upon entering, any local or tourist will find themselves swimming in all things Cambodia, including locally crafted paintings and wood carvings, cultural attire, and delicacies, fruits and vegetables specific to the region. 

  Here, a vender sits hardly visible at her post, shoulder high in fresh vegetables.

Photo taken by M. Thomas Duggan

website     |     tumblr     |     facebook     |     instagram     |      twitter

[mthomasduggan]

An family in Germany works in tandem for one full day annually in order to harvest their entire crop of potatoes in one fell swoop.

Photo taken by M. Thomas Duggan

website     |     tumblr     |     facebook     |     instagram     |      twitter

[mthomasduggan]

Niagara Falls, an attraction which is rarely hurting for visitors, is drawing crowds recently not in spite of the cold, but owing to it.  Due to many weeks of extremely frigid temperatures, large portions of the American Falls and much of the surrounding scenery have become encased in thick sheets of ice, leaving the landscape as a sort of muffled, stationary, and somewhat unbelievable version of its usual self.      

Photo taken by M. Thomas Duggan

website     |     tumblr     |     facebook     |     instagram     |      twitter

[mthomasduggan]

Calbayog City, a small city on the Western Coast of Samar in the Philippines, is also known as the City of Waterfalls.  The most famous of the waterfalls on the outskirts of this town is called Bangon-Bugtong and is just beginning to get the credit is owed as a possible tourist destination.  This in turn, is good news for the locals who live in the area who can act as tour guides and gain a small daily income. These three siblings always accompany their father as he guides tourist to and from the falls in order to gather coconuts and firewood.

Photo taken by M. Thomas Duggan

website     |     tumblr     |     facebook     |     instagram     |      twitter

[mthomasduggan]

Ale's Stones (or Ales stenar in Swedish) is a megalithic monument in Skåne in southern Sweden , which bears many similarities to Stonehenge in England .  It is a 67 meter long arrangement, formed of 59 large boulders, arranged into the shape of a ship.  The major stones at each end of the monument indicate changes of the seasons and carbon dating show the majority of the stones indicate that the structure was erected about 1,400 years ago.

Photo taken by M. Thomas Duggan

website     |     tumblr     |     facebook     |     instagram     |      twitter

[mthomasduggan]

In 1975 Pol Pot took charge of Cambodia, built up his army of Khmer Rouge soldiers and enforced his extreme version of Mao (Chinese) communism on the country. Prisoners accused of collaborating with foreign governments were brought to a group of buildings which were once a school, and were later renamed S-21, to be photographed, interrogated, tortured, and executed. It is was estimated at the tribunal that more than 12,000 individuals, women and children included, were questioned and tortured, sometimes to death on beds like this one, in rooms like this one.

Photo taken by M. Thomas Duggan

website     |     tumblr     |     facebook     |     instagram     |      twitter

[mthomasduggan]

A woman looks in at one of many shelves of skulls at the memorial display at the Killing Fields Museum in Cambodia. Each skull is marked with a small, circular sticker which indicates the most probable implement of murder.

Photo taken by M. Thomas Duggan

website     |     tumblr     |     facebook     |     instagram     |      twitter