Thomas Morgan
Artist Bio
I began my journey as a photographer the same way many of my peers did: a camera passed down or gifted. It is something not terribly expensive but with good glass and simple operations. Mine was a Yashica-MAT 124G, during one of its final years in production. This was in 1985. It was an oddball relic even at the time since almost everyone else I knew had already become acquainted with 35mm. But I was and continue to be rebellious. I would prefer a larger negative. My rig was heavier, simpler, and so required more patience and thought. It required an artist’s eye, and that’s what I would put to it.
Fast forward. I was in New York pursuing a career in publishing. On my days off I would explore the city with that even boxier device but now with two detachable lenses. I shot mostly black and white then, and the results were awesome.
That camera came with me to Los Angeles, where I would spend the next couple of decades.
My cameras are an extension of me, my inner dialog brought to the fore. I compose when I shoot. We’re constantly moving in a place like Los Angeles, but it is through my constant pursuit of photographic exceptionalism that I’m able to see the details, the story, and the drama of the stillness between stoplights. I’ll always shoot, and most of the pictures are not going to be that good, but the ones that get through will hopefully transcend into a photograph.