CUT OUT THE NOISE. FOCUS oN YOUR VISION. KEEP MOVING.
From SCIENTIST TO PHOTOGRAPHER
It all started with a 4 Mb Sony camera in 2005 meant to document Tom’s cultural exchange year in South Africa. It didn’t take too long, and photography became an important part of his life and turned from a hobby into a passion.
Fast forward a few years, and Tom completed a Bachelor's in Biology and a Master’s degree in Tropical Marine Ecology at the University of Bremen. He stood at a crossroads in life - pursue a PhD or risk it all and work on becoming a full-time visual storyteller? After a series of events, Tom decided to follow the latter path, believing he may have a bigger impact on changing minds by focusing on photography and film.
Today, Tom is still involved in research projects whenever possible and has published several peer-reviewed papers on Fijian wildlife. Scientific education is a strong asset in his storytelling approach, giving him a deep understanding and wider perspective on many of his assignments.
Most of Tom’s work focuses on conservation photojournalism - or, more broadly speaking - environmental storytelling. Utilising his background, many assignments involve science communication, helping scientists, NGOs, and institutes to tell their stories to the public in a visually appealing way. He has documented scientific projects and expeditions in Fiji, Italy, Guyana, Germany, French Polynesia, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea, some of them to remote and hard-to-access regions.
His clients include the largest organisations in the nature, conservation, and development sector, such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Pacific Community (SPC), the World Bank, Conservation International (CI), the Center for Tropical Marine Research in Germany (ZMT), and Australian Institute for Marine Sciences (AIMS) and many more.
Merging science, Conservation and storytelling
Whatever you do, do it with passion and Dedication.
Conservation & knowledge transfer
Tom's work has been published in an array of national and international magazines, such as The Guardian, Oceanographic, Bild der Wissenschaft, Welt am Sonntag, Der Spiegel, Diver, Tauchen, Unterwasser, and The Fiji Times. He was also awarded the prestigious German Prize for Science Photography in 2016/2017 and first place in the 2021 World Nature Photography Awards. He is a member of the Ocean Artists Society and closely collaborates with the Nikon Professional Service. Since late 2021, Tom’s photos have been represented by the International League of Conservation Photographers and, since 2023, additionally by the Nature Picture Library.
He works with state-of-the-art mirrorless Nikon and Blackmagic equipment, underwater housings as well as drones, and captures images and film in all dimensions. Having worked in extremely challenging conditions and remote locations, Tom is capable of executing assignments around the world and is well-adapted to working independently in the field.
Environmental awareness is a major driver throughout his body of work, and he has given presentations and talks at various functions. For example, in 2018, Tom spoke about his work at the largest European Wildlife Photography festival as a keynote speaker. Driving positive change with his photographs and films is the underlying goal of all his endeavours.
Tourism Promotion
Tom's other field of work focuses on high-end promotional and marketing content creation for the tourism sector. He works with resorts, dive centres, and liveaboard operators throughout the tropics and has gained extensive experience in directing, shooting and editing promotional short films, and the production of engaging high-quality imagery for upper-end facilities. Tom worked on assignments for several of the leading five-star resorts in the South Pacific, such as the Kokomo Private Island Resort, the Ratua Island Resort & Spa, the Wakaya Resort and Spa, Turtle Island and the Marriott Fiji Resort Momi Bay.
Pacific Media House
With the dawn of the new decade, Tom founded Pacific Media House in 2020, offering photography & film solutions all across the Pacific. Having worked on many projects throughout Fiji and neighbouring island states, Tom has collected important experience prepping him for any situation. He is used to challenging assignments and is able to work and deliver his visuals in harsh conditions and remote locations.
A Few Major MILESTONES
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Master of Science in Marine Ecology
2016
Tom completes the ISATEC Master Program (International Studies in Aquatic Tropical Ecology) at the University of Bremen, Germany, in cooperation with the University of the South Pacific with a specialisation in shark ecology.
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Establishment of Pacific Media House
2020
Tom launches his business, Pacific Media House, specialising in photography and videography in all three dimensions with a focus on science communication, environmental storytelling and sustainable tourism.
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International League of Conservation Photographers
2021
Tom becomes a member of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP), an esteemed photography organisation consisting of the best nature photographers in the world.
All three dimensions covered.
Tom shoots on a variety of systems depending on the project's needs. He has years of flying experience with DJI drones, spent hundreds of hours underwater filming and photographing with Nikon equipment in an Aquatica housing setup, shot hundreds of thousands of photographs on Nikon cameras, and filmed projects in broadcast-ready resolution & frame rates to deliver footage in BRAW or ProRes with a Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K G2. He is currently shooting on Nikon Z8 bodies with a variety of lenses.
Photography and film can be extremely powerful tools in driving positive change.
Sponsors
Tom works with brands and products that help him achieve his storytelling vision. He receives either monetarily or in-kind contributions from the following companies:
