Art Meets Activism in Tim Tadder’s Picture-Perfect World

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By Tori Phelps | Photography by Tim Tadder

Whoever said a picture is worth a thousand words must have never laid eyes on Tim Tadder’s photos. These overachievers, if distilled into text, would fill a War and Peace-length tome. It could hardly be otherwise with such charged subjects. In his series like Nothing to See and United States of Purple, he tackled a divided nation, while his latest project, Black Is a Color, wades into the fraught issue of race relations in America. Far more than decor, Tadder’s photography is activism in art form.

Ali is part of fine-art photographer Tim Tadder’s newest series, Black Is a Color.

A camera has been his constant companion for decades. After studying mathematics at the College of William and Mary, the Baltimore native went on to earn a master’s degree in visual communications from Ohio University. Tadder then launched his career in newspaper photojournalism, freelancing for multiple outlets. While satisfying, it wasn’t exactly lucrative. He was looking to boost his income when he discovered the world of advertising photography. His work became a hot commodity in Southern California, and Tadder began crafting his distinctive style along the way.

Tadder had always considered photography to be art, but it wasn’t until several years ago that he decided to take his photography in a noticeably more art-forward direction. Unlike his previous career pivot, he didn’t delve into art photography as a money-maker; the odds would have been against him, after all, as they are for every fine artist. Instead, he simply believed he had something to say. “It wasn’t until I was the most effective visual communicator I felt I could be that I started to create art to hang on the wall,” he says.

Wells by Tim Tadder is another portrait in his Black Is a Color series, an introspective response to race relations in America.

Tadder debuted his art photography at the illustrious Art Basel, introducing international buyers, connoisseurs, and critics to his work that’s designed to provoke a reaction and, hopefully, a paradigm shift. His first foray into art agitation was Nothing to See, a series featuring models with their eyes or mouths covered by others’ hands. The collection, unveiled during the previous presidential administration, responds to the political divisions that were—and still are—very much present in America. The project depicts a moment of resistance against a “new normal,” Tadder explains, in which dishonesty is the currency of political success. The goal is to help viewers reject false narratives propagated by politicians and the media and view the nation as it is, with fresh eyes.

Continuing in a political vein, United States of Purple tackled the reality that We the People have become We the Red and Blue (states), a polarization that seems to invade every area of life. Tadder believes the way forward is as a “purple” citizenry, a mix of red and blue that denotes middle ground and commonality.

Tadder’s series Nothing to See is described by the artist as “a moment of resistance against a ‘new normal’ in which dishonesty functions as the currency of political success.”

Perhaps the only subject more heated than politics today is race relations, but Tadder didn’t hesitate to tackle the topic in his latest project, the visceral Black Is a Color. With George Floyd’s death and the Black Lives Matter movement in the headlines, Tadder took aim at what he saw as the assault on freedoms, ongoing division, systemic racism, and social injustice.

“I wanted to explore a nonliteral and unconventional way to share with people a different point of view—a view that boldly illustrates a slice of what’s missed with a binary approach to race,” he says.

To bring the images to life, he experimented with different paint viscosities and dilution techniques for the trio of colors in each picture. The result, models with smooth, perfectly black skin dripping in brilliant paint shades, is a gorgeous, gut-clenching series that demands viewers look past skin tone to see the beautiful, infinitely complex humans within.

The reception has been everything he could have hoped for, with audiences embracing both the work and the idea behind it. Because Tadder isn’t a person of color, he tried to ensure the series respected those experiencing the trauma of injustice. “Before I realized the project, I contacted a dozen or so friends of African descent and ran the name and the concept by them to get their feedback,” he says. “I value their opinion, and the last thing I wanted to do was cause more anxiety around race relations.”

Though his work has been well received, its subjects invite backlash. Any risk, however, pales in comparison to the responsibility he feels as a father to help create a better world for his children to inhabit. It’s because of them, he says, that he uses his platform, voice, and abilities to raise awareness and move people, convinced that changing just one person’s point of view can have a dramatic effect on the world through that individual’s interactions.

And the bigger the stage, the more significant his impact may be. That’s why he hopes his photography will eventually earn exhibition in major museums and art appreciation venues. In the meantime, he intends to continue creating strong, graphic, bold imagery. As for how the world views his work, Tadder hopes he’s known not only for contributing to the visual landscape but also for illuminating it. “It would be great to be recognized for my career-long dedication to creating images that elicit a response,” he says.

It seems he’s well on his way.

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Tim Tadder’s fine art collections are sold exclusively at Avant Gallery in New York, Miami, Aventura, and Dubai. To learn more, visit TimTadder.com or follow him on Instagram @timtadder.

Tori Phelps has been a journalist and writer for twenty-five years. A longtime VIE collaborator, Tori is committed to storytelling that honors the subject matter and inspires the reader. She lives, reads, and bakes vegan biscuits with her family in Charleston, South Carolina.