Reproduced with permission from the: Loupe, Vol. XII No 1., Spring 1998

 Twenty-five years ago, after a brief meeting at Time Magazine in New York with Photo Editor John Durniak, who later became a mentor, Frank McMahon quit his staff job at a publishing company and launched a career in free-lance photography. Today, based in Chicago and Galena, Illinois, McMahon operates both a successful photography business and Digimage, a Web page development company.

 McMahon comes from a family of artists."careers such as photography, were always acceptable in my family, and several family members are sculptors, artists, actors, and writers," he shared. From high school on, his passion was photography.

 Graduating from from Chicago's Loyola University with an Anthropology degree McMahon interned at both the Chicago Sun Times newspaper and New York's Time-Life Color Lab during summer breaks. He then joined a major archeological dig in down-state Illinois as staff photographer. "That job produced a cover story for the Chicago Tribune Magazine, and related stories in Time and Smithsonian magazines, several encyclopedias, and other publications. "I always felt that my education in anthropology influenced my photography" McMahon recalled.

 A 20-year-plus ASMP member and former Chapter Co-President and Board member, McMahon firmly believes in what the organization can do representing photographers' rights and influencing rates. Currently serving as the Web Master for the Chapter's Web page and Moderator for the National ASMP Internet Forum, McMahon's ASMP activities have channeled his career in an entirely new directions "Last year, my Web page generated more than $13,000 in photography assignments and $6,000 in Web page development work-that's a significant portion of my income," McMahon exclaimed.

 McMahon's highest volume clients over the years have included Time, Inc., IBM, Rand McNally & Co., Stone Container Corp., and International Harvester. He is currently working with the Boy Scouts of America, creating the latest version of the Boy Scout Handbook. Recently McMahon produced a 120-photo Web page chronicle of his work during the past three decades, titled: 21 Years of Photographic Postings: An Autobiography in Photography. It includes photos of "Presidents, Popes, and Princes," as well as several Time covers. The site, which is linked to the Chapter Web page, follows McMahon's career from his black-and-white photojournalism in the '70s to the high-tech digital imaging that will bring photography into the next millennium.

by Jill Norton

Editor: Al Debat
Art Director: Jim Polaski
The Loupe is a Publication of: ASMP Chicago/Midwest

In the same issue:

 Chapter Web Meister Frank McMahon shows everyone how it's done by producing a spectacular, leading-edge 120-photo Web site extravaganza that charts 21 years of his career in professional photography. As a Time and Life shooter for more than a decade, McMahon covered news events throughout the Midwest and nationally. This on-line photo exhibit is titled, "21 Year of Photographic Postings: An Autobiography in Photography (based upon Frank's periodic promotional postcards), and contains a remarkable collection of celebrity subjects ranging among President Jimmy Carter, Prince Charles, and Pope John Paul, as well as portraits of everyday working people and a selection of beautiful scenic vistas. You can visit this Web site at <http://www.galenalink.net/~fmcmahon> and for more contemporary images by Frank visit <http://chimwasmp.org/mcmahon>. Today, in addition to his corporate and editorial photo journalistic work he is also a leading expert in digital image manipulation and is a sought-out consultant on Web page design and execution. If you need help setting up your Web page, call Frank at 312.554.0524 or you can Email him at frank@digimage.net. This month's cover depicts some of his Photographic Postings, while a Loupe "Portfolio" features more recent work.