my Story

Vision:  

To share what I see through the camera and thereby make connections, real and imagined, between the viewer and the people, communities and lands that I have had the privilege to visit.

A Late in Life Photographer’s Journey

Photography is my primary avocation. During the past eight years I have combined photography with travel, visiting nineteen countries, the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. I have photographed people in the places they live, work, and play and I have photographed some special places on earth. Along the way I have met many inspiring photographers some of whom have become valued friends. What follows is a bit of perspective on my photographic journey.

The first 21 years of my life were spent in Northfield, Minnesota, a college town just south of the Twin Cities. The presence of the colleges created a “liberal arts” environment. Exposure to the arts, literature and people who came to the colleges from different parts of the the world was part of the experience of growing up in this small town. It was in this context that my interest in photography developed.

My father, Albert Wilson, whose formal education ended in the eighth grade, had a profound influence on my life. He was a self-taught man.  He read voraciously.  He was a building contractor and an accomplished carpenter, furniture maker, stonemason, gardener and welder. He was active in community life and he served as mayor of Northfield. As a result of his work, I grew up on construction sites and learned to use woodworking tools. I observed and grew to appreciate the quality of work and the values exemplified by my father and those who worked with him. The role model he was is a primary reason I find myself drawn to photographing craftsmen at work.

I had an early interest in the world beyond Minnesota. National Geographic Magazine arrived at our home every month. I was fascinated by the pictures and stories about cultures, animals, geology, and phenomena found in different environments and remote places. I collected and studied the maps. National Geographic provided small, seven by ten inch, windows into a world I could only imagine. I spent hours in the attic looking at old editions.

Short-wave radio became one of my hobbies and provided a different kind of window into global communities. I spent hours working the radio dial in search of stations in distant lands.  When I found a new station I would listen to the broadcast, usually music or news. After identifying a station, I would post a note and look forward to getting back a postcard from the station.  Radio Brazzaville in the Congo was one of my prize postcards.

Throughout my youth I was fascinated by photography. I acquired my first camera while in grade school and shortly thereafter began developing black and white images. In junior high school one of my prize possessions was a very small Minolta 16, a 16mm “spy” camera, a camera which I still possess.

Upon graduation from St. Olaf College in 1967, I headed east. In 1970 my wife Julie and I were married in NYC. We lived in the City for seven years and enjoyed the museums, the arts and the food. My interest in photography was nurtured by visits to the Museum of Modern Art. New York City continues to be one of my favorite places to photograph. While in NYC, I acquired my first single lens reflect camera, a A Canon FTb. The kitchen of our small North Bronx apartment periodically served as a darkroom. 

I completed graduate degrees at Columbia University in 1976 and joined a small consulting firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a place where I hung my hat for the next 30 years. My photography during these years was focused on family, the sporting events and other adventures of our two children, and family vacations.

In 2009 I retired and started spending most of my time at our second home in Sandwich, New Hampshire.  Woodworking was my first passion, picking up the camera came a bit later. On a whim, I enrolled in a photography workshop in 2012. I was embarrassed by what little I knew, but I was hooked. The strategy for my new passion soon became clear: photographic workshops and tours that involved world travel. My interests were eclectic: landscapes, cities with history and architecture, and opportunities to photograph people at work and play. As my photography experience has evolved, I am increasingly drawn to photographing people at work, play and going about everyday activities. Portraits have always drawn my attention at art galleries. Looking forward I intend to increase my skills at taking portrait photographs.

During the depths of COVID, I had the unique opportunity to document the workings of one of the few remaining commercial, water-powered sawmills in the country, Garland Mill in Lancaster, NH. A portfolio of these images will appear as a future Featured Portfolio on this website.

My development as a photographer has benefited enormously from the guidance and encouragement of a small group of mentors, specifically Les Picker, Steve Simon, Bryan Peterson, Valerie Jardin, Mirjam Evers and Alison Wright, who tragically died in 2022.   These photographers got me to the right place at the right time and helped me develop both technical proficiency and my “eye.”  As important as these leaders have been to my photographic journey, other participants in their workshops have provided invaluable support, guidance, portfolio critique and comradeship.

The portfolios on this website reflect the diversity of my interests and the characteristics of the many colorful places I have visited.  Portfolios will be updated periodically drawing on different images from past travels and new projects. 

If you have an interest in purchasing any photo or if you would like to view other photos within a genre, please contact me.

Tom Wilson

Contact:   tom@photosbythomaswilson.com