learner, and Tommy was happy to
take him under his wing. Nowadays,
the two of them bounce ideas off each
other all the time, resulting in a refreshing
and authentic shooting style. ‘I can’t praise
Mike highly enough,’ enthuses Tommy.
‘You could almost say his style is my brand,
because he has filmed every single video. I
think that’s important for consistency.’ The
behind-the-scenes footage gives Tommy’s
photographs greater context, and has
proven popular with clients, as he explains.
‘I ask brands if they want a behind-the-
scenes video to accompany the photos and
that somewhat guarantees a “yes”, because
I’m giving them more deliverables.’
Find creative ful lment
But Tommy’s shoot at the lake had nothing
to do with deliverables – it’s one of a series
of monthly projects he has set himself to
keep his creative juices flowing. ‘There’s an
author called Austin Kleon who basically
says you should think like an amateur,’ he
explains. ‘You need to think back to a time
when you had no worries about clients, no
fears about failing and no worries about
experimenting. Not enough people do that
nowadays, because social media makes
them feel under pressure to make
everything perfect.’ As someone who’s
fascinated by people, it comes as no
surprise to learn that Tommy’s personal
projects often have a human interest angle.
One particularly moving example is a
documentary he made about James Dunn,
a photographer with a rare genetic skin
condition called epidermolysis bullosa.
Having seen James on the BBC programme
The Big Life Fix, he decided to get in touch
to see if he could spend a weekend helping
him get the most out of his camera. The
encounter had quite an impact on Tommy.
‘For me, the ultimate goal in life is to feel
creatively fulfilled, and to do work that uses
my skills to benefit someone else,’ he says.
‘Nothing feels better inside than doing
something like that.’
Stay close to home
Tommy is a confident, affable person, but
for many of us the idea of approaching a
stranger and asking to take their portrait (or
make a film about them) seems daunting.
In which case, he suggests starting from
home. ‘If your grandparents are still around
they’re bound to have fascinating stories –
including some you might not have heard
before,’ he says. In fact, this is exactly what
happened when Tommy made a wonderful
film about his nan, Violet. ‘I learned things
about my nan that I didn’t know before I
did that interview,’ he explains. ‘Like she
never told me she went to the same drama
school as Julie Andrews!’ Tommy derives a
great deal of pleasure from telling people’s