Former businessman and artist David Sussman, known for his photography on canvas and coffee-table photography books, has found a safe, flood-proof homestead after he lost several homes and studios to hurricanes.

He invited the public to his new gallery Jan. 6 when the Charlotte County Chamber of Commerce officiated over the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Blackjack Circle in Punta Gorda’s horse country.

The best thing about the new homestead, Sussman said, is it has an elevation of about 27 feet above sea level and will not flood.

Also, its pond and area’s acreage attract a variety of birds and wildlife, which provide subjects for Sussman’s photo art.

He and his wife, Mary Ann Tipton, a retired Colonel with the U.S. Air Force who serves as his business manager, had to flee from several hurricanes that destroyed their homes, studios and other properties in the Panhandle’s Panama City and Punta Gorda.

The storms cost Sussman thousands of dollars in equipment, prints and property from hurricanes Ivan (2004), Irma (2017), Michael (2018) and Ian in 2022.

Fortunately, hurricanes Helene and Milton did not affect their home and studio, he said.

The couple was renting a 300-acre Punta Gorda farm on Bermont Road, but they had to leave after Hurricane Irma caused extensive damage. They went back to their home in Panama City, which was later destroyed by Hurricane Michael the following year. They also lost a seawall they had just replaced, their dock and boat.

Their landlord repaired their former Bermont Road farm home, so they returned to Punta Gorda.

Sussman and Tipton soon began the search for a place that was off the water, close to nature and at a higher elevation. They found their 5-acre estate off Washington Loop Road that came with a barn that Sussman transformed into a studio.

From the outside, the barn looks like any other barn. But the inside resembles an upscale art gallery one might see in a major city.

His close-up nature shots showing every detail of a bird’s feathers, an insect’s wings, a reptile’s tongue, a flower’s petals and birds in flight, might belie the fact that Sussman wasn’t always an artist but a commercial photographer who innovated the industry.

“I was fortunate to get into photography; I retired from business to become an artist,” he said.

He left Johns Hopkins University after a 30-year career in which he ran their photo lab that he brought into the 21st Century.

“I introduced digital to Johns Hopkins.” Sussman explained. That was in the 1990s when digital photography was replacing silver-based film photography.

Sussman continued to keep up with technology, and along the way he became entranced by Lucasfilm’s Star Wars.

“I could do that with stills,” he remembered thinking, and he became involved with special effects.

Quiet and unassuming, his humble nature belies the fact that Sussman has received numerous accolades over the decades, including Kodak’s Industrial Challenge Award, Epcot’s Professional Photographers showcase and the Professional Photographers of America Showcase competition.

His expertise includes photo editing, 2D/3D animation and all aspects of multimedia design.

But it is those up-close nature photos that he’s best known for that has put his work in demand by businesses and homeowners.

Around Charlotte County his photo art is displayed in businesses, banks, public places and in private homes.

Although he’s considered himself retired, demand for his photo art keeps increasing, and he obliges.

A client will choose one or more photographic images from his inventory, request the sizes for photos on canvas and Sussman will go to work transforming their interior.

He will also visit their homes or business for an in-person consultation.