meet Thomas,

you may know him as the photographer behind many of your favorite photos of artists like Big Sean, All Time Low, and Camila Cabello, but there’s more than meets the eye.
Thomas is the founder of an agency, a risk taker, loyal friend to all, and a creative through and through.
he may not believe he’s made it yet, but it’s that ambition that has made him so successful in the first place.
from the work he does on tour with artists to the platform he has co-foundeded to help new creators succeed, Thomas lives life with a helping hand outreached to anyone who takes it, and i don’t think there’s anything more inspiring than that.

I want to start out with the idea that at face value, photography consists of static images, but in reality, photography is visual storytelling. That said, as a photographer, what does it mean to be a storyteller?

I think it’s actually really interesting, and it also takes a certain person to look at your images to read a story. I think for me, a lot of it is trying to bring reality into my images, rather than a story. With something I do, it’s kind of hard to tell a story. I think that personality and reality is kind of what I bring to imagery. I do work really closely with celebrities and stuff and I think the biggest goal of my career is to have somebody from the outside be able to connect with an “artist” or “celebrity” on a different level to make them feel like everyone is human. There’s a lot of stories within myself, like I can tell a story about an image. But for my imagery, it’s more about personality and reality.

For sure. At the risk of being generic, what initially drew you into photography?

I grew up in a town an hour and a half north of Manhattan. It’s like a suburb, and I did the typical sports. I did football, wrestling, baseball, and then there was a time where, you know, I just sat back and I was like, “Man, what do you do in your career?” There were a lot of people questioning things like, “Do you go to college and play football, or do you go and wrestle? What do you want to do?” So I kind of took a step back and I was like, I want to do the craziest thing kind of possible and everyone was like, “Do golf!” or like, “Do racquetball.” I was like, “Man, I don’t want to do a sport.” And at this time, it was actually a very critical time period where arts and crafts in high school and stuff like that were getting cut-out from the budget. In my high school, that was the first thing that was cut out, or what was going to be cut out when I left school. So I was like, “I would love to do these classes before they’re cut and never going to be a thing again.” On one hand, I was kind of sad, because that’s fucked up. That’s a real brain-moving aspect of being a kid – doing arts and crafts. That’s literally a big reason why I wanted to pick up a camera and do something completely different than the generic sports. And it’s funny because when I was a senior, I got so involved with photography and shit like that… I was the kid that started getting artistic while wearing a football jersey on a Friday at school, because you know, all the football kids would be wearing football jerseys for the game. It was a traditional, suburban lifestyle. I was wearing a Fedora and like, Vans and skinny jeans. And people would look at me like I was crazy. Within the back and forth, I was like, “Wow, this is really interesting.” I was learning so much about myself and testing my brain in certain ways of how to be creative, and then I really dove into people and the world of art, which is beyond humongous. That’s why I started doing photography.

What was your first camera?

I had my mom’s camera; it was like this Kodak EasyShare point and shoot camera. It was literally the size of my hand; it had a flash and a very open aperture. It was literally just a click of a button. I would just go out in my yard and take pictures and then I would go to local concerts – literally there were five people at these concerts. I would just bring my camera, and take pictures. And then, long story short, the first camera that I invested in was this little Canon Rebel. I bought that with my own money when I had worked for my dad the summer going into eleventh grade. That’s where it all started; that camera allowed you to change lenses and all that, so that was the first camera.

You just mentioned how you embraced being different and following what you wanted to do, which is difficult to do in life overall, but especially in high school. I recently listened to a podcast you did where you mentioned that your parents were so supportive to the extent that they would drive you into the city to shoot these shows.

Yeah, they would! And I’ll be honest, if I ask them today to do something like that, they would. When I officially moved out of my parents’ house, they were so upset that they couldn’t drive me to the airport anymore, you know what I mean? My mom still gets bummed out, and I’ve been living on my own for years now. Every time I go to the airport, she is the only person I’ll call and be like, “Hey, I’m in an Uber going to the airport.”

“There’s so much support, which is kind of crazy to think about because if I didn’t have that support, who knows if I would have followed through?”

That was a huge backend of my faith in my career. It worked. I’m appreciative.

Okay, I’ve personally found this, and maybe you’ll agree – you get your harshest criticisms in school. Like, nowhere in real life will someone tell you, “This is wrong.” But in a photography class, you will be told something is just wrong.

Oh, my God. Yeah. It’s kind of crazy because to be completely honest, I ended up going to a very small arts school for two years and I “graduated” it because it was a two-year program and I passed the program and everything, but I wanted to leave so bad because I was getting criticized so much. I remember one time, someone was like, “Man, your work sucks.” And I was like, “Man, this is art. This is literally something that is probably the most nonjudgmental thing in the world.” And it was like this whole debate on what was right and what was wrong about it, and I was so upset about it, because I was like, “Man, there’s nothing wrong with this picture. It’s just the way I shot it.” Technically, it could be wrong - aperture wise, it might be a little too dark, or whatever. But at the end of the day, who has a say in that? I have this crazy piece of art hanging up in my apartment. The only reason why I love it so much is because every single person who comes to my apartment, goes, “What is that?” And a lot of people go, “That’s like.. really ugly.” But then there’s also so many people who go, “I love that.” The only reason why I leave it up is because I love to get people’s opinions on things, and that’s just how I look at art in general: there’s no one to tell you it’s right or wrong at all. And that’s what I went through in art school and that’s why I hated it so much. I do not stay in touch with any of those people still to this day because… ugh. It hurt me, you know what I mean? Like, “Man, we’re all in this together; we’re all artists.”

True. Another thing I think a lot of people find challenging is creating access to and relationships with bands. You started out before social media. Like, you were bringing a photo album with you. And then there’s also the conversation of paying your dues, and doing things for free to get your name out there, but on the other hand, you also need to make a living to sustain yourself, too.

I think that’s exactly what you said – when I did it, I was younger so I knew I had the stability of my parents supporting my decision as long as I had clear inspiration or an idea of goals that I wanted to do, so on the back end, financially, I didn’t really have many bills. I just had a phone bill when I was nineteen or whatever it was. At the end of the day, that was the best timing for me because I didn’t have that financial situation. The way I took it, and the way I tell a lot of people nowadays, is the younger you are to do it, you are able to try stuff out. It kind of goes into effect of what I’m doing right now. I took a little bit of time off the road for the last month and a half to do something else in music, but I saved a lot of money to be able to take that time off and focus on what I need to do. And I think a lot of it is also networking. It was a different form of networking back then, because I think it was easier to hit up somebody and have them respond. Nowadays if you want to hit up your favorite band, there’s so many followers and people doing it that it’s a little bit harder. Butback then, it was easier for people to connect with one another and that’s actually what social media was meant for. It was meant to elevate yourself, your career, to meet people, everything. I think nowadays, people have social media for the wrong reasons. There’s a lot of ways in which social media is different, but I think I came in at the right time and I elevated my career and started my career in that way. I think it was just a timing thing, but I did use it to my advantage.

I think you did such a good job of working with what you had and building those connections. It’s hard work; it’s never an accident.

Thank you, and you’re right. I tell a lot of people now that if you do want an internship or something, hit up photographers and do a shadowing or a mentor program. Try to hit up your favorite photographers or artists or painters or whatever, and see how they do things. Take that as an internship.

Experience – that’s probably the best advice anyone can give or get.

You have to put yourself out there even though it’s nerve-wracking.

100%. I feel like back in the day, if you hit up someone on Facebook or Myspace, they were very willing to meet up with you. Nowadays, I feel like people hide behind the computer and they just want to text or email or something. There’s so many times where I’ll say, “Hey, let’s jump on a call,” or, “Let’s meet at a coffee shop,” and I won’t get a response. Or they’ll say, “We can just do it over an email.” And why? Why would you do that? Maybe it’s somebody’s personality and stuff, but at the end of the day, you want to elevate and grow yourself.

And for the record – not only do you have the hustle, but you have the experience. You have become really successful. You’ve worked with big names and tons of bands. You hustle, but I also love that you prioritize curiosity and you jump genres a lot. What is one lesson that you’ve learned from branching out and trying new things?

I have a kind of crazy story. I think this story is a very huge learning curve in my career, and I would not change it any other way. When I was younger, obviously I loved rock music and I feel like I didn’t hit big with rock music, but I was like, “Man, I think I’ve done as much as I can here.” So then I worked for a DJ for a little bit and I did a lot of stuff with him. Then I went back to rock, and I was like, “Man, this is so crazy. I would love to do something else.” I feel like there’s only so much that I can do in this genre of music, because it was like this Warped Tour world. Everyone knew me; I felt like I had established myself.

So, I get this call – my homie is like, “Yo, I’m going to connect you with this artist.” They were about to go on this arena tour with another band in the summer. This was maybe four years ago. They’re like, “Okay, great.” They locked me in. We negotiated payment; we negotiated flights. I had flights going to the tour. At this point, I was like, “Wow, this band is massive. They’re very, very big.” At this point it would have been the biggest band that I had ever worked for, but it was still rock. Then, I do Coachella with a DJ named RL Grime. I meet his creative director, who works with Big Sean and all these other people, not knowing that at all. I do Coachella, and I’m about to leave for tour with this massive band that’s doing a co-headlining tour. I wasn’t very stoked on it, because I was like, “Man, I just did Coachella. I wish I did other shit.” Literally, three days before the tour… like I said, I had my flight. I was right about to go, and I got a call from RL Grime’s creative director, and he wanted me to go on this Rihanna tour that Big Sean was on for like three or four months. At the end of the day, I was like, “Man, I already have this tour booked. I don’t know what to do.” So I honestly called a few trusted sources that are my brothers. I told them my situation – either I stay in rock, or I burn a million bridges with this management company, this artist, everyone, or I go and I try this new thing out with this dude named Big Sean. And you know, I knew who Big Sean was, and I knew Rihanna, obviously – I feel like everyone does – but I was like, “Man, this is such a big gap. Who knows if they’re going to like me? I’ve never done this before.”

“It was a very time-changing period of my life where I was like, I can either fuck up really bad or this could be the best thing of my life.”

I burned a lot of bridges in this other camp of managers, and still to this day, they fucking hate me. I know they do. I know for a fact they think I’m the most unprofessional person that lives on this Earth. But I think that it was a very make-or-break situation for my career and to see if I could challenge myself. I was so invested in rock that I was like, “Man, let me step out of my box and see how I could change – change the way I think, change the way I shoot, change everything. Literally, at the drop of a second. I quit that band, and I flew to Europe a week later and I went on tour for like four months. Still to this day, Sean is like my big brother. It was a huge step, and who knows what would have happened if I did that band, or I didn’t go with Sean, you know what I mean? There’s a lot of questions, but it definitely changed my life. Still to this day, so many people are like, “I can’t believe you did that!” And I’m like, “Ah, fuck.” But who knows? Everyone has their own opinions. but I think it’s really elevated me. It made me a completely different creative than I had ever been. It put me in positions with other people who think completely differently than I do. I did not know anybody in Sean’s camp at all, and I think that really put me in a certain mindset of being a photographer and a creative. It was really challenging; it still is, honestly.

I think when it comes to risk-taking and striving for progress to continually improve, you have to make yourself and even some people around you uncomfortable, like when you outgrow friends or things like that.

“There’s a quote, not that I live by, but Sean said this one and it’s, ‘Remember soon as you stand still, so will everything else.’ And that’s just saying that if you’re standing still, you’re not progressing and you’re not moving forward and making yourself a better person or a better artist. That’s something that I always have in the back of my mind. If something is easy for me, I’m over it.”

You say you burned a bridge, but I want to go on record and say that you’re also known for building really good relationships, to the point where if someone approaches you with a job and you can’t take it, you’ll bring up a friend and make those connections. That’s so rare, to see the emphasis of collaboration over competition. You’ve helped cultivate a tight-knit community.

Some of my best, best friends are photographers, and I talk to them every single day. Every single fucking day. The dude that I’m going to the wedding for as his best man - his name is Josiah Van Dien. He’s Shawn Mendes’ photographer, and he literally is my ride-or-die best friend; I talk to him every single day. It’s about feeding energy to each other. Whether I’m having a bad day, or they’re having a bad day on the road, we’re trying to learn from each other and there’s no way that is better than learning from your friends. Whether it’s talking about your failures or your goals, talking to your friends that are peers and photographers is essential. It’s kind of crazy that you bring this up, because recently, a peer of mine named Adam Elmakias – he has been literally, like…an idol to me. He was one of the first dudes that I saw on tour with artists and stuff like that. Recently, as of like today, we announced that we’re doing an agency together.

It’s been official for like a month, and we have like four or five clients right. We have a bunch of creative people on jobs. It’s a lot of learning and staying in touch with photographers and creatives. The more we know, the better. I think that Adam and I are trusted creatives in this industry, and the amount of times we get hit up in a day for jobs is crazy. There’s a lot that goes into it – we have databases and so much going on. I talk to him all day long to figure it out, because it’s pretty new, but we’re trying to start a mentor program and shadowing with other photographers and all this stuff. As of now, I can talk about it because we’re in full-force now, but we’ve been hinting it at people, like, “Yo, if you want to shadow your favorite photographer, let us know.” Now we’re just starting to put it all out, and I think people are excited. Hopefully we can connect clients to cool creatives and really help people out that don’t have an outlet, you know? It’s cool. It’s a lot of work, but he and I have been working on it for about a month. We were like, “We should take time off and really do this.” It’s amazing, honestly. I love it.

Congrats, because that’s amazing.

Thank you. It’s so fucking cool. I’m so excited to talk about it. Because now a bunch of our homies called me and they’re like, “Dude, like, that’s amazing.” Recently, we had this dude do a shoot – we got hit up by a label. It was in a super random city, and we were like, “Do we know anyone there?” We ended up sourcing it out through a friend of friend of friend of friend, literally. We hit up everyone, like, “Yo, can you do this?” Because we didn’t know anyone who lived in that city. It was in Middle of Nowhere, America. And we help negotiate rates and help people get more money and deal with contracts, because with a lot of this stuff, Adam and I never had anyone to teach us. This is where we’re trying to give back, and be like, “This contract means this. This is what you’re getting, and we’re going to get you more.”

“We’re trying to break it down and really help people understand the world and business of photography or videography and editing.”

I’m so proud of it, and I’m so excited to work on it all year long.

I’m so excited for you.

Thank you so much. Well hey, you got the first hearing of it, kind of. I was on the phone with Adam like ten minutes ago, and he was like, “Oh, you’re doing an interview? You should talk about the agency.” So, yeah. There you go.

That’s so exciting. And working with artists of any status, there’s a balance between their aesthetic and your style. For example, magazines can be so strict with what they want that they might as well use a stock photo. How do you find the balance between what you’re drawn to and what the artist is looking for, or what their aesthetic is?

I started to really learn this when I was with a band called Mayday Parade, and then a little bit more with Sean. When I was with Mayday Parade, they had never had a photographer before, and I was young. I didn’t know what branding was; I didn’t know how black and white pictures would affect better than color, or how portraits were better than live pictures. The way I tried to connect their aesthetic was like, I listened to their music and I was a massive fan, and then I got to work with them for three or four years, and I just related to their music so much. I dedicated every second of my life to them. It taught me a lot about who they were as people, and because of the connection, it made my images better. They also didn’t have anyone previously, so I had free range. When I did All Time Low, I feel like I kind of fucked that up for myself - I kind of got in this mindset because Adam Elmakais did All Time Low before me and then he brought me onto them when he left. So I felt like I wasn’t really creative in that aspect because I was kind of filling his shoes, and I wasn’t in my best form, if that makes sense. Then when I went to Sean, I learned a lot about hip-hop and what he wanted versus what I wanted. We were in Dubai in December, and he’s the type of dude that I can text and be like, “Hey, we should go shoot. I found this cool spot down the road.” It’s funny because one of the most recent pictures on my Instagram is one of my favorite photos of him that I’ve ever taken. I was like, “Dude, this is going to be amazing. It’s going to be so cool,” but I just knew he wasn’t going to like it for certain reasons. But at the end of the day, I was able to post whatever I wanted, because he was like, “Yo, you’re the artist. If you had a vision, you can post that as long as I don’t look stupid.”

“There’s a bunch of things you have to look into when it comes to bigger artists and stuff like that – make sure they look good and their eyes are clear, that they don’t have bags under their eyes. Sean loves to show his outfit, so I usually make sure his outfit looks great. There’s so much going on and everyone has their own aesthetic.”

I try to stay creative, and the nice part about it is that I just bring in what I think. Since I work closely with these people, I can say, “Hey, this is my opinion. You can have your own opinion, but this is what I think.” And they’ll take it or not. I think a lot of the time, they might take it after some convincing. But once you get comfortable with people, you’re allowed to give your vision because that’s why they hired you. Adam and I just had a conversation with some publications today about them trying to buy rights from people and now these magazines want to start editing and stuff. It’s interesting because nowadays these photographers don’t want to have people edit, but it’s like, “Why did you hire them then?” I understand because they’re also trying to have a brand. It’s tricky. I think working closely with people and being honest is the best way to be a creative.

And you work really hard to build trust, because you’re with them pretty much 24/7.

That is the number one rule: trust! If you don’t have trust, good luck!

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But you need to have trust in yourself, too. You need to have trust and confidence in yourself. That’s probably the number one rule before the artist – feel confident in yourself so that you can do the job and help them. That is probably more important than anything. Be confident and trust yourself in the process. Don’t question yourself on whether something is good or not, because you’re just going to get in your own head, and that is what you do not want to do as a photographer, painter, creative, anything.“

This is something I’m kind of curious about, so it may be slightly random. But aesthetic has become bigger with the rise of social media. There are photos from twenty, thirty photos that are iconic. Social media is almost 24/7 and there’s photo overload, at times. What do you think?

It’s interesting because I feel like a lot of things come and go. That’s a big reason why I don’t focus on Instagram a lot. I don’t want people to look at my work like it’s disposable, or to think that I just post to post. I have a few friends who text me all the time, like, “I need to post just to post.” I’m like, “No, you’re just posting to please your likes and your analytics.” I think that social media is so in-and-out; I try to post the most beautiful and impactful pictures that I love. I don’t care about anyone else. I truly do not care at all if I get 100 likes to 14,000 likes. That’s not the way to look at your photography. Everything is at a scroll now - tap and the scroll. But I do think there are a lot of pictures that will always be around. There’s a bunch that I can name off the top of my head right now that I always get tagged in, no matter what year or time, because it’s aesthetically pleasing and a beautiful artist. I wouldn’t say everything is going to have that forever-lasting feeling; a lot of this is come and go, which is kind of sad.

Speaking in regards to longevity, you had your first gallery not too long ago.

I was going to mention that but I didn’t want to rush you. That’s actually a number one reason why I had my gallery. It was the first time anyone has ever seen every single one of those pictures printed and framed on a wall. I think there were over 300 people there. It was a life-changing moment of mine, just to have the support and to have people to look at my pictures on the wall and stare. Literally stare at my pictures. I saw so many people say, “Yo, this picture is insane,” and then they would come talk to me, stuff like that. It ended up turning into a party, which is amazing, because it was fun. I had merch and pictures on sale, and everything sold. It was amazing. And it’s a different time period because no one had ever seen those pictures printed before. It was larger scale, and that’s something that’s really rare and something I think a lot of people in my position haven’t done before. It’s hard to do a gallery. It’s hard to sell that kind of stuff, but thankfully, I’m super blessed to have that experience in the back of my pocket. I remember when everything was set up, my parents were there, my girl was there, a few people were there.

“And I remember taking my phone and being like, ‘How crazy is it that everyone is used to this size?’ I have an iPhone 11, the biggest phone right now, but this [gallery print] is 30, 40, 50 times bigger than what people are used to. It was a crazy moment.”

It’s so ironic that now more than ever, people emphasize what gear you have and how high-quality an image is, when it’s ultimately viewed on something that fits in your pocket.

That is the craziest part about it. Right now, I think I have like three billboards, and I haven’t even seen them myself. I have a few in LA, a few in New York, and that’s kind of what these cameras are meant for, megapixel wise. It’s always like, “Man, if only everything was a billboard,” because that’s my mindset. Literally, if this was on a billboard, would this look good? Ok, yes. Everything that I put on my Instagram, I feel like it could run for an ad and/or billboard, or a movie cover or poster or something. That’s my mindset, and how I look at my work: big.

I like that. Would you say… it might be your gallery, but what’s your biggest accomplishment so far?

The gallery was honestly insane, but the gallery also closed a time period of my life in relation to that imagery. Now I’m working for something that’s completely different. I don’t know what my biggest accomplishment is. I think it’s just starting, honestly. I’m going to have a really crazy year. I’m really excited for this year. I’m not the type of dude to settle. I don’t like to settle because I know there’s so much more that I can learn, so much more that I can do, so many artists to connect with. I feel like I haven’t even found the perfect artist that I could document, you know? I’ve been with Sean for four years; I was with All Time Low for three years, and I started doing this Camila stuff, and who knows if I’m even going to do the Camila stuff this year? I don’t know. I feel like there’s so much out there.

Do you think that you could? Because you’re so versatile, and I’m not sure if you would sit with just one, even if you found it.

Yeah, I don’t know. True. I’ve never thought about that. I guess the goal is to just keep working hard. I never really look for it; I think I would prefer it coming to me because if you look too hard for something, you’re going to end up feeling like a failure. For the last month and a half, I’ve been working on this agency so I haven’t been looking for work with a new artist. I know Sean’s about to go back on tour and drop an album. I’m not settled, but I’m also not striving to look for something because I feel like if the time comes, someone is going to know if I’m interested or not, you know? If someone looks at my work, they can go, “This is going to be an amazing fit. We should hit him up.” It takes two people to tango.

I think artists find artists, and that’s the end of it.

And putting that energy out there where you are so open to anything that those opportunities will find you.

Yeah, exactly. 100%.

Cliché question, but what inspires you?

I’m in my apartment right now and I think that this is a new inspiration to me. This is something that I’ve never had before. I recently moved to Brooklyn, and I have these big, massive windows downstairs in my loft. I’ll wake up every single morning to the sun blaring into my apartment waking me up, motivating me. and the Brooklyn and/or New York City hustle and bustle, too. I’m looking out my windows right now and I see people walking, and it’s like, “Where are they going? What are they doing?” That motivates me and inspires me to get up and go out and do things. There’s a lot, but I like that answer. It’s something new to me that I’ve never had.

Definitely. That gives you energy – you feel it. And on the other side of inspiration, freelancers or creatives get doubted or minimized a lot in regards to what they pursue. As someone who’s “made it,” what advice would you give to someone who wants to pursue a creative career?

I wouldn’t say I made it; I would say I’ve established myself, and I feel like there’s so much more. The beauty and the beast of being a freelancer is determined by what type of person you are and how much motivation you have. That determines if you are ready to be on your own, to have no plan, no contacts and nobody telling you anything. People need to find it in themselves to really hustle and get after it themselves. That’s what a freelancer is when they are “successful.” But if you are not that person, it is very hard. It’s super, super hard to do that. My advice is to stay motivated and get people to motivate you; surround yourself with people who kick your ass to get out of bed, to meet people, and go to events and parties where you can give your number out. It takes a certain beast to do that, and there’s some days where I can’t do that. And that’s why I say that I haven’t made it, because some days I just stay in bed and work on my emails, you know what I mean? It’s all personality, and there’s a lot of ways to go about things.

And as someone who hustles pretty much non-stop, how do you define a work-life balance?

I learned this a year or two ago: after a certain time, you have to shut off and focus on what makes you happy that is outside of your career. There has to be a time where you shut off, and a time when you’re on. It takes willpower to be like, “Okay, I’m clocking out.” I would say that that’s the hardest thing ever. And from my own experi ence, the next few months I have a bunch of friends getting married – this weekend, another in two weeks, and then like, four weeks after that. I think a lot of it is picking and choosing between work and that. It’s like, “What am I really going to remember forever, and what’s going to really impact my life in a positive way and make my friends and family happy, compared to work?” Because over the past ten years of travel and stuff, I have missed a lot of weddings. I’ve missed a lot of deaths, but I feel like I wasn’t in the position that I’m in now to be able to pass up work and stuff. I feel like now is probably the most important time for me to focus on my family and friends, but it did take a very long time to recognize that.

Right. No two days are alike, especially with what you do, but what does a day in your life look like?

For the last month, I’ve been waking up at 7:45 or 8 in the morning. There are some days where I go to the gym; there’s some I don’t. Typically, I will make coffee at my apartment. Then I will go out and get a coffee with a friend. I’m always on my phone, Monday through Saturday, and I get like forty calls a day and a million text messages. I’m always on my phone, literally. I’m a very easy, accessible person because of email and social media and everything. It’s not bad because during the work day, it’s crucial. I love to cook, so that is a huge thing that I love to do. I rarely go out to dinner unless it’s a big thing, so I’ll always cook lunch and/or dinner at my apartment. Sometimes I’ll go for meetings in Manhattan or stuff, or I’ll go meet with a bunch of photographers that I don’t know. That’s a huge thing of mine: I’ll try to meet with two or three people a week just to catch a vibe. Like, “Hey, I like your work. What do you do that I don’t do and how can we help each other?” I’ll come home, have dinner, and chill. My days vary. If I have friends in town playing a show, I’ll go see them playing a show. Or if it’s a Friday or Saturday night, I might go out and have a couple drinks at a rock bar. I’ll do karaoke or whatever. Obviously, tour is very different. I feel like I have so many vibes, you know? Tour is a whole different thing. My life is different every day, which is cool.

Yeah, it keeps it fun. What is one thing everyone should know how to do?

Cook, for sure. Man… oh my, God. Learn how to cook! I love cooking. It’s such a crucial thing.

Lastly, you‘ve said for years now that you’re trying to make a name for yourself. What do you want to be known for?

I do know that. I do know what I want to be known for because I’ve been teaching myself this since I moved to Brooklyn. And it’s hospitality.

“Hospitality is being able to welcome someone into your life or your home and make them feel the most comfortable possible.”

I think that comes down to my work, me as a person… everything I do. I would love for everyone to feel very comfortable around me, and I’m a very giving person, whether it’s work or at home. Obviously my pictures, but personality-wise, like, “Tom does the right thing. Tom knows how to make someone feel good about themselves, and Tom can really uplift someone’s day if they’re having a bad day.” I want to be someone who someone can call on. I have so many friends who can call me and be like, “Oh, I’m having a terrible day,” and we’ll talk it out. Not saying I’m a therapist or anything, but I’m a good listener and I love to help people.

seven questions with thomas falcone:

I can’t go a day without… water.

Everyone should read… “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.” It was recommended to me by Sean four or five years ago. I think it’s a really good book.

Life is better with a little… Reece’s Cups. Ask my girlfriend - I have a problem.

Everyone in their 20s should… experiment as much as possible. Try new things.

One insider thing to do in New York City… bar hop and then karaoke. It’s so fun. My next birthday party, no joke, will be at a bar and then I’m going to take everyone to karaoke.

What the world needs right now is… peace.

One way to spread love is… be kind to each other. Treat everyone the way that you want to be treated. That’s the oldest term in the book, you know?

You can follow Thomas Falcone on Instagram and Twitter, or visit his site at http://www.thomasfalcone.com

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photographer Thomas Falcone on learning to trust yourself, longevity, and the risk that changed his life