Today we’d like to introduce you to Tj Thorne

Hi Tj, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

I grew up in a rural area outside of Pittsburgh, PA, with a forest in my backyard that played a significant role in my childhood, fostering a deep appreciation and love for the natural world. I spent most of my childhood playing in that forest and after graduating high school, I moved to Portland, OR, where nature was much more abundant and easily accessible.

Already having a passion for photography since the 1990s, the abundant nature in the Portland area became a major part of my work and an important element in my battles with alcohol addiction and mental health struggles. This experience resulted in my relationship with both photography and nature becoming deeply personal avenues of healing, leading to me interacting with it in expressive ways and eventually becoming a challenging, yet rewarding full-time career.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

It certainly hasn’t been a smooth road. Besides being a better photographer than a businessman, being a full-time artist presents many challenges.

Financially, it has been the most challenging. I am a single father and the sole income source for my three-person, two-cat family, which creates a lot of pressure. My first big challenge happened in 2017, right after I quit my 20+ year career in the restaurant industry and left my job of 16 years. At that time, I had a single income stream for my business: teaching in-field nature photography workshops. I knew I needed to diversify my income streams, but a week before my last day at my job, the natural area where I earned 95% of my photography income suffered a massive and devastating wildfire, completely pulling the rug out from under my business.

Somehow, I survived that hit to my business and rebuilt, finally diversifying the locations where I taught workshops. Then the pandemic hit, pulling the rug out from under my business again. Fortunately, I had grown my name recognition in the industry and was able to pivot to online teaching and digital product sales. Despite the initial financial challenges of the pandemic, my business grew substantially, and I am finally building and improving additional revenue streams.

Balancing the need to make income with remaining authentic creates its own challenges. My work is on the quiet and introspective side, which is a bit more niche in this age of social media and attention-driven economy, making it tough to draw opportunities. But I’ve slowly been learning the best ways to advance my business in line with my personality and work. Finally seeing a return on the investment in authenticity has been encouraging. It’s very rewarding to have carved out a little niche for myself, allowing me to create the work I want to create when I want to create it, with no apologies, and still support my family.

Three important values to me are passion, patience, and persistence. Without a wellspring of those three things in my heart, my business would not have survived and I would not have the fulfilling career that I have today.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

I am a photographer and lens-based artist primarily focused on the natural world, with an emphasis on photographing water. My work explores personal relationships with the subtle and often overlooked beauty in the world around us.

I think what sets me apart, at least in the genre of nature photography, is my creative use of all types of light, particularly midday and direct light. You wouldn’t expect that from a nature photographer, but my love of using a camera and the knowledge I’ve gained over the years have made me adaptable not just with light, but also with subject and environment. I also photograph urban environments. This creative latitude has helped me learn more about who I am as an artist and person and has deepened how I interact with the world.

I don’t think of the camera as a tool to capture a photograph. I view it as a means to build an intimate relationship with the world around me by engaging with plays of light, interacting elements, patterns, and textures. Exploring those elements within the viewfinder provides me with everything I need from the creative process: peace, solace, and gratitude to exist in that moment with that subject. Any photos I get are like postcards from that experience—gifts, but never the goals.

Last year, my first monograph titled “Ebb and Flow” was published, chronicling the beginning of my journey of photographing water. It contains 100 images made during 2016-2021 and represents some of the most important work I’ve ever created. Seeing where I started, understanding the personal challenges I’ve faced, and knowing that I have a book published with work borne out of those challenges is something I will be forever grateful for and something that is still hard for me to believe.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?

I was a shy kid who spent most of my time outside. We lived in a rural area, and there weren’t many other children around aside from my two sisters, so I learned to occupy myself with my imagination and adventures. In 1989, I discovered snowboarding, which became a huge focus of my life and ultimately drove my decision to move to Oregon 12 years later.

I was a daring child—though my parents might use the word reckless—and I have the scars and concussions to back that statement up. My youth was filled with exploring the forest, climbing trees, riding dirt bikes, skateboarding, and snowboarding. Though I am older and don’t bounce back as easily anymore, I still have that adventurous and daring spirit and seek out thrills where I can.

Pricing:

• Ebb and Flow Monograph 69.95

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tjthornephotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tjthorne_photography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tjthornephotography