Some journalists are excellent photographers, while other just “take pictures.” I fall into the latter category. The idea is this: Shoot 10 images, and one will probably be good enough to publish.
Sometimes I take 50 at a time. Or more.
I stopped using my vintage 2009 Cool Pix 35mm camera long ago, after it became clear that my Android phone had a better lens and took better pictures. I’ve used bigger, better cameras, but I don’t enjoy lugging them around.
In the eight years since the Catalyst began, I’ve written hundreds of stories, and shot probably thousands of published photos. Many are portraits, usually as part of interviews with musicians, theater people, artists or authors. I’ve shot buildings and meetings and historical sites, ribbon cuttings, flag raisings, workshops, seminars and major announcements. Sometimes I get to write news stories and snap a few get-it-now shots. In every case, I’m happy to be chronicling the community I feel so strongly about.
Here are 21 of my favorites from the Catalyst archives. From the first eight years.
December, 2018. Tony Antonius, owner of the Redington Long Pier, was squabbling with the Town of Redington Shores over the county’s oldest wooden pier, which had been severely damaged by Hurricane Irma the year before. The pier was demolished in 2020.
July, 2021. American Stage’s Producing Artistic Director Stephane Gularte had recently announced her departure from St. Petersburg’s longest-lived professional theater.
October, 2022. Artist Derek Donnelly poses with his latest mural, depicting his young son, at Planet Retro record store.
April, 2024. The Studio@620 co-founder Bob Devin Jones.
September, 2024. Behind the Gulfport Casino after Hurricane Helene.
November, 2018. St. Pete City Architect Raul Quintana and the St. Pete Pier, a work in progress.
September, 2023. Australian artist Loretta Lizzio puts the finishing touches on her contribution to the SHINE Mural Festival.
March, 2018. Joe Nuzzo at the Suncoast Surf Shop on Treasure Island, which he’d owned since 1966. Joe died in 2021. RIP.
June, 2018. Author and journalist Bob Andelman. Bob died two years later. RIP.
December, 2023: Chef Ted Dorsey at Sonata, the Mahaffey Theater’s fine-dining restaurant. Ted died in 2025. RIP.
March, 2019. 83-year-old Hank Barlas, whose father opened Coney Island Sandwich Shop in 1926, with longtime restaurant manager Gail Kelley. The restaurant, famous for its chili dogs, closed in 2021. Hank died in 2024. RIP.
September, 2024. Iconic environmental activist Jane Goodall speaks to the media a few hours before her talk in front of thousands at Tropicana Field. The first thing she did was set the toy chimpazee on the lectern. Goodall died in 2025. RIP.
February, 2019. Artist Carrie Jadus in her Warehouse Arts District studio.
January, 2022: Artist Laura Spencer works on a mural in the Lealman District.
October, 2021: SHINE Mural Festival artist Jason Harvin shows off his original design in Adobe Illustrator, which he uses onsite for reference.
September, 2025. Protesters gather as Pinellas County Commissioners prepare to debate the fate of the umbrella arts support organization Creative Pinellas. The public spoke for over two hours. Commissioners still voted to take away the agency’s funding.
October, 2022. In the stranding pool, behind the scenes at SeaWorld Orlando: Senior 1 Animal Care Specialist Nicholas Ricci with Ridgway, the infant bottlenose dolphin rescued July 20 under a Clearwater Beach pier.
October, 2021. Singer/actress Sarah Nordin and cast in a St. Pete Opera production of Mozart’s “Cosi fan Tutti.”
August, 2018. Jade Zadar and her six children at their run-down, rented apartment in Largo. They were soon to move into a home constructed just for them by Habitat For Humanity of Pinellas County, as it was known at the time. “I’m trying to pave the way for the rest of my kids’ lives, and their kids’ lives,” Zadar said. “So it feels like a major accomplishment for me, and for them.”
December, 2022. This “family photo” was taken shortly after the front door of Munch’s Restaurant and Sundries, after 72 years, was locked for the last time.