After loosing money in the great depression Webb took up photography. In 1938 Webb joined the Chrysler Camera Club in Detroit, where he met aspiring photographer Harry Callahan. He Took a workshop from Ansel Adams and after serving in World War II, Todd Webb moved to New York where he became friends with Alfred Stieglitz and his wife Georgia O’Keeffe.
In both 1955 and 1956, Todd Webb was awarded two successive John Simon Guggenheim fellowships to photograph the pioneer trails that early America settlers followed to Oregon and California. While his contemporary, Robert Frank drove across the country during these years, Todd walked and photographed as he moved from East to West.
Todd Webb's work has attained an important place in American photographic history. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and is included in numerous museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Art Institute, and the Chicago Art Institute.