To some people, Jack MacDonough will always be known as the former chief executive officer of Miller Brewing Co.
However, MacDonough has reinvented himself. He is now one of the most sought-after commercial photographers in the state.
After MacDonough left Miller in 1999, he began to study his passion for photography more closely, taking pictures of buildings, people and landscapes near his home in Chenequa. With extra time on his hands, MacDonough started off with a few projects, including photography of the ministry staff at his church and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Technology and Trade School in Milwaukee (he is chairman of the foundation that created the school).
As neighbors saw him out and about with his camera, they asked him to take photos of their estates, and he soon built a portfolio of landscape photos.
In effect, his work became a brand in Lake Country, where friends began commissioning him to take photos, paying thousands of dollars for the right to throw back their shoulders and proudly proclaim, "It's a MacDonough."
MacDonough was then commissioned by the Milwaukee Art Museum to take photographs of an exhibit, "Industrial Strength Design: How Brooks Stevens Shaped Your World."
Since the Brooks Stevens exhibit, MacDonough has launched himself into the corporate art world with art consultant Sally Stevens, owner of Milwaukee-based Sally Stevens Ltd. and daughter-in-law of Brooks Stevens.
MacDonough's latest corporate project is a 6-foot by 7-foot installation in the reception area of the We Energies campus on Michigan Street in Downtown Milwaukee. The installation is a series of images that MacDonough captured in a moving wing study he conducted on the Calatrava addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum.
"Architecture is especially fun, because at one point in my life I wanted to be an architect. I respect the skill of it. Landscape is fun because it is God’s creation," MacDonough said. "The architecture of God gave man the reasoning mind to do the architecture. In both ways, (my photography) is sort of a celebration of God’s work, not man’s work."
However, MacDonough has reinvented himself. He is now one of the most sought-after commercial photographers in the state.
After MacDonough left Miller in 1999, he began to study his passion for photography more closely, taking pictures of buildings, people and landscapes near his home in Chenequa. With extra time on his hands, MacDonough started off with a few projects, including photography of the ministry staff at his church and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Technology and Trade School in Milwaukee (he is chairman of the foundation that created the school).
As neighbors saw him out and about with his camera, they asked him to take photos of their estates, and he soon built a portfolio of landscape photos.
In effect, his work became a brand in Lake Country, where friends began commissioning him to take photos, paying thousands of dollars for the right to throw back their shoulders and proudly proclaim, "It's a MacDonough."
MacDonough was then commissioned by the Milwaukee Art Museum to take photographs of an exhibit, "Industrial Strength Design: How Brooks Stevens Shaped Your World."
Since the Brooks Stevens exhibit, MacDonough has launched himself into the corporate art world with art consultant Sally Stevens, owner of Milwaukee-based Sally Stevens Ltd. and daughter-in-law of Brooks Stevens.
MacDonough's latest corporate project is a 6-foot by 7-foot installation in the reception area of the We Energies campus on Michigan Street in Downtown Milwaukee. The installation is a series of images that MacDonough captured in a moving wing study he conducted on the Calatrava addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum.
"Architecture is especially fun, because at one point in my life I wanted to be an architect. I respect the skill of it. Landscape is fun because it is God’s creation," MacDonough said. "The architecture of God gave man the reasoning mind to do the architecture. In both ways, (my photography) is sort of a celebration of God’s work, not man’s work."
Steve Jagler is executive editor of BizTimes in Milwaukee and is past president of the Milwaukee Press Club. BizTimes provides news and operational insight for the owners and managers of privately held companies throughout southeastern Wisconsin.
Steve has won several journalism awards as a reporter, a columnist and an editor. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
When he is not pursuing the news, Steve enjoys spending time with his wife, Kristi, and their two sons, Justin and James. Steve can be reached at steve.jagler@biztimes.com.
