PhotoSeek.com distills 40+ years of nature travel photography and tips by Tom Dempsey, a photographer based in Seattle, Washington, USA.
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Tom Dempsey, Photographer
Email: tom @ photoseek.com (without spaces)
YouTube: youtube.com/@Photoseek
Linkedin.com: Tom’s profile: www.linkedin.com/in/photoseek
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Biography for photographer Tom Dempsey
Born in California, Tom bought his first camera in 1978. During a memorable nine-month trip around the world in 1981, he captured the wonders of New Zealand, Nepal, Norway, France, and Switzerland on color slide film. A move to Washington State motivated him to publish his images in magazines and books. Switching to digital cameras after 2003 increased his creativity with instant feedback and freedom from the tripod. Published in 2009-10, Tom’s book “Light Travel: Photography on the Go” teaches and inspires outdoor photography by revealing the magic of portable cameras. His ongoing website PhotoSeek.com illustrates nature travel tips with evocative photography. Join the photographer’s workshops.
Commissioned work
- As an Artist in Residence for Alpenwild.com, I captured Alps images on commission for company promotion in 2022 (Tour du Mont Blanc, Saas-Fee, Swiss Via Alpina) and 2016 (Appenzell and Berner Oberland). Alpenwild is the world’s largest provider of English-speaking tours in Switzerland. In response to my photos, Alpenwild founder Greg Witt said “These are absolutely stunning — I couldn’t be happier. Some of us in the office today going through your 342 favorites and each one brought back a lot of memories and also generated a lot of excitement as we discussed where and how we can best use these for maximum impact.“
- I photographed a 112-mile trek across “England Coast to Coast” (read my article) on commission for Wilderness Travel, 2017 July 23–August 5.
- For the University of Washington School of Drama from 2009-2013, I captured 3600 “Day in the Life” scenes of people, plays, classrooms, and theaters.
- In summer 2011, Gary Scott of Right Path Adventures hosted my one-week photographic workshop in the Dolomites of Italy (click to view trip images).
- In Switzerland and France for two weeks of summer 2005, I captured trekking images on commission for Ryder-Walker Alpine Adventures.
Tom’s Publications
Inspired by travels, mountain wilderness and natural patterns, Tom has published 200+ images worldwide, and authored the book Light Travel: Photography on the Go (2010, 2009) which teaches and inspires outdoor photography by revealing the magic of portable digital cameras. The artist’s images have been published in the following media:
Published in architecture:
One of my favorite rock images from Glacier National Park is enlarged twice onto a Calgary skyscraper! The abstract image glows on two lightboxes wrapping 64 feet and 54 feet around the base of a tower completed by Axiom Builders in June 2019, photographed by Tom in 2022:
Above: Tom’s jagged rock photo was enlarged twice at the base of a downtown skyscraper in Calgary in 2019. Made of 50 glass tiles, the larger lightbox wraps the building’s southeast corner, 19.6 by 8.4 meters (64 feet wide x 27.5 feet high). Made of 30 glass tiles, the smaller lightbox wraps the southwest corner, 16.3 by 3.5 meters (53.6 feet wide by 11.6 ft high).
Tom originally photographed the stone pattern on color slide film in 2002 — “Billion-year-old rock breaks into a jagged pattern in Glacier National Park, Montana, image #02GLA-04-38.”
Address: SODO Residences, 620 10 Ave SW, in Calgary, Alberta, CANADA (on the corner of 5th St and 10 Ave SW)
View this skyscraper on Google Maps:
Above: A rock image by Tom Dempsey is enlarged at the base of a skyscraper in Calgary.
Tom’s work published in books:
- National Geographic Traveler: Greece, 3rd Edition 2009 and 2nd Edition 2008
- Art and Archaeology of the Greek World by Richard Neer 2012, published by Thames & Hudson Ltd
- Discover Biology (Fifth Core Edition, 2012) W.W. Norton Publishers
- Moon Istanbul & the Turkish Coast 2010 guidebook by Jessica Tamturk
- The Rough Guide to Ultimate Adventures (Rough Guide Travel Guides) by Greg Witt 2008
- Dorling Kindersley Dinosaur Encyclopedia 2007
- Fuentes: Conversacion y gramática (4rth edition 2010) — a successful intermediate Spanish program from Cengage Learning (formerly Houghton Mifflin College division)
Published in magazines:
- Wilderness Travel Catalog
- National Geographic Books, Maps, and Digital Media
- Sierra magazine
- Nature Journal of Science
- Ryder-Walker Alpine Adventures Catalog
- Mountain Travel Sobek Catalog
- Eagle-Eye Tours Travel Schedule
- Portland Monthly, Saga City Media, Inc
- Made in Washington Catalog
- PC Photo magazine
Published on web and print media:
- I am an Artist in Residence for Alpenwild.com
- Amateur Photography magazine, London, UK
- Reuters News Pictures Service
- Right Path Adventures