Terry Thompson is an award-winning free-lance photographer, based in Taos, New Mexico, since 2001. In 1990, an $11 Kodak disposable panoramic camera indelibly altered the way he viewed the world. On a whim, he had purchased the camera as something fun for his wife and him to "play" with while on a vacation in Death Valley. When he got the film developed he was captivated by the unusual, oblong prints and he has passionately pursued panoramic photography ever since.
Terry's photography skills developed over the previous decade when he was an award-winning film producer for an underwater film company headed by Al Giddings. During that time, he combined managerial duties with shooting still photography on company projects, much of them underwater.
Terry enjoys seeking out subjects from beautiful landscapes to close-ups such as grapes on the vine and composing them in a way that creates a piece of art. “My work continues to emphasize the stunning natural beauty of the West,” he says. “I look for subjects that capture the spirit and light of our land, and I then seek out the subject’s heart to create images that reveal the hidden emotion.”
Recently, Terry has been shooting a fair amount of conventional 3:2 format photography, as seen in his series called “Garden Dreams.” This series looks at everyday plant life in a macro view, adding movement to create delightfully abstract forms of color and patterns not normally noticed by the human eye.
Thompson has done award-winning editorial and commercial assignments for magazines such as New Mexico Magazine, Sunset, New Mexico Journey, The Santa Fean, Wooden Boat, and Cowboys & Indians; for various New Mexico vacation guides; for wineries such as Charles Krug Vineyards; and for architects, builders, and other clients. Thompson’s images have been made into retail calendars, greeting cards, puzzles for Barnes and Noble, and natural history posters and published in National Geographic publications. The National Park Service hired him to produce new wayside exhibits for seven panels placed along the crater’s rim trail at Capulin Volcano National Monument, New Mexico. He shoots images for licensing worldwide through two stock agencies, Panoramic Images, Inc., and Alamy; and he works with a network of art consultants and designers to produce prints for corporate, hospitality, healthcare and residential décor throughout the country.
Thompson’s photography can be seen locally in Taos County locations such as the Edelweiss Lodge and Spa (Taos Ski Valley) and the Quail Ridge Resort. His fine art prints have sold numerous times through New Mexico’s “Art in Public Places” program, and can be seen in visitors’ centers and other public buildings in various locations. All of his prints are numbered limited editions of 25 and signed by the artist. All prints are made with archival papers and inks with archival ratings of 100 years.
Awards and Recognition for Photography
Placed in the Top 50 in the 2010 Epson International Panoramic Photo Contest
Best of Photography, 2005, Taos Open section of the Fall Arts Festival
Featured in cover story in “Panorama,” the journal of the International Association of Panoramic Photographers, 2004
Twice selected a finalist for the New Mexico’s Willard Van Dyke Memorial Grant Competition
New Mexico Magazine’s featured online photographer in Summer 2005;
http://www.nmmagazine.com/PHOTOTOURS/thompson01.html
Second Place, Color, 2003, New Mexico Magazine’s annual photography competition
First Place, 1997, Napa Valley Mustard Festival Photo Competition
First Place, 1997, Silverado Trail Division, Napa Valley Mustard Festival Photo Competition
Select Exhibits
2010 Taos Encore Gallery Exhibition, “A Humble Masterpiece: San Francisco de Asis Church”
2009 Los Alamos One-person Photo Show
SkiTaos.org website: online exhibit
Taos Fall Arts Festival, 2002-2015
Millicent Rogers Museum exhibitions, 2002-2005
Taos Country Club, Gallery on the Green, “Through a Lens Sharply” exhibition, 2005*
Raton, NM, International Art Show and Exhibit, 2005
Various exhibits in Taos, NM, including Apple Tree Restaurant; PhotoWorks gallery; Southside Bean; Stables Gallery; Taos Center for the Arts; Taos Institute of the Arts; Community Wellness Center; Taos Spring Arts Festival; Casa de las Chimeneas B&B; Taos Art Museum Gift Shop, 2002-2006
Mumms Champagne Cellars, Napa Valley, California, 1997-1999
* Reviewer Virginia Clark wrote in a Taos News feature article: “Thompson’s work is unsurpassed. Art lovers will be amazed by the painterly effects his soul pulls from such mundane events as a blue moon rising over White Sands...”
Memberships
American Society of Media Photographers (past secretary, New Mexico board of directors)
