Weddle uses photo, video to connect

LAKEN MONTGOMERY News Reporter | @lmontgomerymiss

On the second floor of the Administration Building, an office sits in the far back corner of the west wing. This room belongs to a man that thrives behind a camera and never misses an opportunity to get the perfect picture.

Senior Multimedia Specialist Todd Weddle has been working with cameras since he was in high school. His first job out of college was a photojournalist at the Sedalia Democrat, a small paper in Sedalia, Missouri, for many years before moving to the top corner of Missouri. Following that, he worked at St. Joseph NewsPress for 16-and-a-half years as a photographer and photo and video editor.

He spent over 20 years working in photojournalism and watching the industry and camera technology change over the years.

“My role is always behind the camera,” Weddle said. “I’m like the ninja, I don’t want to be seen, I want to be invisible, I don't want people to even notice I'm there. Because then I get to see them for who they are.”

Weddle’s career as a photographer began back in high school as an art student when he first picked up a camera. He believed it was the only way to put what was in his head into art without using paper or canvas.

He chose to continue his work in college at Northwest with a major in photojournalism and was invited to join stu- dent publications to take pictures for them. He said that was when he started to fall in love with journalism.

Weddle decided he loved journalism when he went to a workshop at National Press Photographers Association, saw Bill Eppridge, a Life Magazine photographer known for his famous and meaningful photos throughout America that told a story.

“His images moved me so much, not knowing about the subjects or anything, but moved me, and the stories about those images moved me so much that I knew, that's what I had to do,” Weddle said.

He said he looks up to him as inspiration and a role model for his photography and was a big driving force for his work. He recalled loving how Eppridge told stories within his photos and his ability to capture people motivated him.

“I’m most proud of the ability to make an impact on the people that view my work, via video or photo,” Weddle said “Just being able to move somebody to a reaction of some kind, could be positive, could be negative, but they have an emotional response to my work. I feel like that has been something that has really made an impact on me, being able to see their emotions.”

Lauren Adams, Northwest multimedia specialist, has worked with Weddle a little over a year. She describes him as a very kind and hardworking individual, a blast to work with and a great boss that always creates the opportunity to be able to learn something new and be creative.

“I think Todd has impacted Northwest in a very positive way,” Adams said. “He has a lot of connections here and family ties, but he also goes out of his way to make people seen and heard and make them comfortable. He strives to show how great Northwest is and capture what it is about through his lens.”

Weddle not only has a love for media, but also spending his free time outdoors and traveling with his wife and kids. He spends as much time as he can outdoors camping, hiking or traveling. Most notably, he visited the Rocky Mountains, Smoky Mountains and his favorite destination — Maui.

When he's not out of town, he loves spending his time watching sports, going to brunch and being with his family as much as he can. He enjoys watching soccer and cheering on Sporting KC and the Chiefs occasionally and catching his coworkers up with the latest and greatest shows.

“I’m a big supporter of brunch, everybody likes to go to brunch on the weekends,” Weddle said.

Nature and sports aren’t the only things Weddle is passionate about. He always takes the opportunity to get the perfect picture, get to know anyone he can and impact the community with his work.

“Todd is all about capturing moments when the times are just right,” Adams said. “We’ll come into work and it could be negative 10 degrees outside, and he would say the lighting outside is perfect and that they might not get this opportunity again, and he would go and get photos.”

One of Weddle’s favorite things to do is take photos of people, but he doesn’t click the button and move on. For him, taking photos is also an opportunity to get to know the people around him.

He said oftentimes, a person will start to open up, and you can learn about them and hear their story. He views the camera as an opportunity to meet and really get to know everyone.

“On any given day, I can meet everybody in the city,” Weddle said. “From the homeless people, to the mayor, people from all walks of life, every country that pours into Northwest. Having that ability to be impacted by others and grow myself, that's probably one of my favorite things about this job.”

Weddle has worked at Northwest for seven and a half years. There are moments that stick out to him most when he thinks about his career. He recalls the excitement of covering multiple Northwest football and basketball national championships, traveling for the alumni magazine, and watching students grow from being scared freshman to confident graduates that know what they want to do.

“Todd’s a really great guy, he’s not just a photographer or videographer,” Adams said.“There are so many things about him that make him great and shouldn’t be overlooked just because he’s the guy behind the camera. Every once in a while I feel like he should be in of the camera too.”

Maryvi In In