I am very sad to hear of the death of photographer and filmmaker Ross McDonnell. I noticed yesterday that our interview with Ross on this website was receiving a lot of interest. We were not friends, although we often spoke through social media, but his powerful work could not be ignored and therefore I commissioned an interview with him for my magazine Hungry Eye back in 2011 and then asked him to contribute to the A Photographic Life podcast in 2021. I learnt of his passing from the photographer Graham Macindoe in a Facebook post this morning. He wrote this:
“I took this photo three weeks ago today as I spent some of the afternoon with my friend Ross. We talked when we met, discussed things we were working on, and revisited an idea of making a documentary film at Ballinasloe Horse Fair in Ireland (a place we both photographed) – I was excited about this as was he. Little did I know this would be the last time I’d see or speak to him. Later that evening he went out to the ocean at Fort Tilden, went for a swim, something he loved doing, and never came back out of the water.
I met Ross in the back of my friend Yoshi’s car on the way to a party in Brooklyn about 10 years ago. Within minutes we’d struck up a conversation about so many topics and common threads we had. I’d just gotten out of prison and Ross was intrigued by my trajectory through addiction and incarceration through to immigration detention and I was even more intrigued by all the things he had going on.
We talked at the party for ages and over the years hung out and met up with mutual friends or together every so often and it was always heartwarming and inspiring. Ross was always the guy doing so much but made you feel like everything you did was equally important. He had time for you, he was interested in you, his ego and self-importance were non-existent and you always left him with a glowing feeling of friendship and shared interests. The last three weeks have been tough and his presence I still feel most days. My heart goes out to his family and friends. It’s a very sad loss to so many. Rest in peace my friend and thanks for all you shared with me and everyone you met. Please check out his work as a photographer and filmmaker. It’s truly amazing!”
You can see his work on his website https://rossmcdonnell.com
You can read the interview here https://unitednationsofphotography.com/2012/12/31/ross-mcdonnell-interview/
And you can hear the audio he sent to me in which he describes what photography meant to him by clicking the small white triangle.
Image: © Graham Macindoe, 2023
© Grant Scott 2023