Tom Lee

Biography

Leaving education as a frustrated artist, Tom turned to architecture, and a life with a drawing board, then later trained as a structural engineer. At the tender age of 21, he was introduced to photography. His first camera was a rudimentary affair including two zoom lenses. When looking back its difficult to see how, when picking up that camera, his hobby, vocation, and entire life would revolve around taking pictures. Like most budding enthusiasts, he joined a succession of camera societies, learning basic and advanced skills and became successful at national competition level.

Realising the need to develop and improve his skills in the photographic market, Tom attended many lectures and seminars organised by the SWPP and gained Licentiate and Associate qualifications. Now recognised for his expertise in digital image capture, Tom is also noted for his storybook style of wedding albums, involving montage-style pages and softly blended backgrounds. Tom uses stylish Italian albums and the latest technology, and clients are expected to pay a high premium for his work.

Tom has since given many seminars in the UK and abroad and written extensively for the SWPP magazine Professional ImageMaker. He was awarded Fellowship of the SWPP in 2002 and made Vice President in the same year. Continuing in the role of Senior Strategic Advisor, he recently received an award for his outstanding contribution to the photographic industry. Tom is also a member of NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) and WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International). His success in open print competition and twice holder of the annual album competition over the years, is testament to his standing among the best in the world. In a recent partnership with Amherst Media, Tom has authored his first worldwide publication ‘Digital Capture and Workflow for Professional Photographers’, and is currently co-authoring a book with renowned American photographer Norman Phillips.

Photography is not just about technical competence; this is only one aspect of weddings and portraiture. Many photographers who call themselves artists fail to convey to their audiences the emotional impact of the subject. In Tom’s case however, his well-learned and practiced skills on the technical side have left him free to develop the aesthetic side and use his judgement to project his own feelings for his subjects into the viewers’ consciousness.

The vitality and insight captured via the use of light and shadow in his portraits provide a unique view that can stand side by side with the best. His work holds beauty, grace, authority and influence of real people for us all to experience.

Photography unlike any other profession brings us into close and personal contact with an astonishing range of people including painters, sculptors, actors, musicians and socialites. Many become lifelong friends and are also the subjects of our portraits. Tom is a master of poetic photography, a true photographic artist. With a career spanning over 25 years, he has made a distinct contribution to photographic portraiture.

Jonathan Brooks
Mphotog (USA), FSWPP

Tom's Programme

The SWPP 2008 Convention was an outstanding success,
we have 243 days to get ready for the 2009 convention - which starts on January 14, 2009

Photo Quote: I now measure my growth as a photographer in terms of the degrees to which I am aware of, have developed my sense of, and have the skills to symbolize visually the four-dimensional structure of the universe. - Wynn Bullock