Tom Gore: Victoria Fine Art Photographer who Runs the Advanced Imaging Lab at UVic

The other day, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tom Gore. His photos have been published in several newspapers and magazines. In addition, he's had many gallery shows and does not plan on stopping. :) Tom's collection of Fine Art photographs is outstanding and he brings a unique and interesting style to his work.

He's shot several subjects, including, but not limited to: architecture, fine art nudes, landscapes, bodyscapes, fashion, portraiture, as well as traveled throughout Europe shooting the beautiful landmarks and experiencing a wide variety of cultures.

Tom Gore is well-educated and well traveled. He has a very creative mind and his photographs definitely show it.

Some of the places where you will see Tom Gore's work are:
His WEBSITE
Flickr account
Model Mayhem

AVIVA: How long have you been doing photography?
TOM GORE:Since I was ten, but seriously since I first went to Europe when I was about eighteen. So for almost 45 years.

AVIVA: What is your favorite thing about photography?
TG: The ability to make and share ideas through beautiful images.

AVIVA: Where has photography taken you (as in travel)?
TG:Mostly Europe, especially to New York, Mexico, England, Scotland, France, Italy and Turkey. It also took me to the Arctic and the bottom of the ocean.

AVIVA: Do you have any funny/interesting/weird shoot experience that you would like to share?
TG: Well, there was this time I was thrown out of Fort Rodd Hill for photographing nudes in a National Historic Site.

AVIVA: Do you have a favorite subject?
TG: The landscape, the cityscape and the nude.

AVIVA: You run the Advanced Imaging Lab at UVic; could you tell me more about it?
TG: Our Lab was the Biological Photography Laboratory, teaching scientific photography in all its aspects. As everything became digital we "modernized" the name, but our function remains the same, "making the small larger and making the invisible visible"

AVIVA: Where has some of your fine art work appeared?
TG: The Globe & Mail, Saturday Night, CNN, Camera Canada, Camera Mainichi, Raddle Moon and a number of photography text books.

AVIVA: Could you tell us more about your style and what you do to the images during post-processing?
TG: I have a number of "styles". For about eight years I've worked exclusively digitally but I still do a lot of traditional black & white work, both landscape and nudes. I do a lot of somewhat journalistic travel work, mostly in Europe and increasingly I am making large colour pieces that involve collage techniques, with images built in layers in Photoshop. I can achieve exciting results that go way beyond what I could ever do in the darkroom and that is very liberating.

AVIVA: Do you have any advice for aspiring models and new photographers?
TG: Look at as many great pictures as possible and think about what makes them great. Photography is far more about ideas and vision than it is about tools and techniques. Good techniques help realize the idea, but without the idea no amount of technique can make a great image. Models and photographers can learn so much from looking at paintings as well as photographs.

AVIVA: What is your preference: shooting commercial work or fine art?
TG:I don't do any commercial work now, but when I did I learned a lot by having to deal with difficult locations and situations that I wouldn't have attempted otherwise. I much prefer the self expression of fine art work, though.

AVIVA: Any last comments?
TG: I wish there were more opportunities to show work. Thanks for asking for my thoughts.

AVIVA: Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me, as your contribution is very valuable!
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Stay tuned for more interviews of photographers, models, designers, make-up artists, clothing store owners, and much, much more!!!

Get inside the heads of the individuals who allowed me the privilege to tap into their thoughts a bit.

Enjoy the beautiful July weather =)

Aviva