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Thomas Smallwood has always embraced life and all it has to offer. “When I was young, the first things I was interested in were sculpting, painting, writing and singing,” he declares. “I thought I was all that and more.” He later attended college at the Fashion Institute (F.I.T.) and the School of Visual Arts in New York, where he majored in advertising, but also discovered that he liked taking pictures. “I knew that I would be directing photographers one day,” he says, “and although I was taking advertising classes during the day, I took photography classes at night. I decided that if I was going to tell a photographer what to do, I should know a little about it myself.” He began taking his camera with him wherever he went, and says that he’s always found a new way to capture something. “I’m always searching for the light,” Smallwood says, “and in advertising, I’m always looking for the next idea.” He’s had the opportunity to combine these philosophies in his career path as a Vice President/Creative Director for some of the top advertising agencies and major retail chains throughout the country. At 24, he was V.P./Creative Director for Jordan Marsh, and has been in charge of ad campaigns for companies like Leo Burnett, Hecht’s, and Marshall Fields. He’s headed up some legendary campaigns, such as Virginia Slims’ “You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby” and “It’s a Woman Thing.”
Smallwood says he’s thrilled that someone pays him for what he loves to do, “which is to put the words together and come up with a great line and a cool visual.” Years ago, he met a photographer who shot for magazines like GQ, and wanted to make Smallwood his assistant. Although he was on the fence about this job opportunity, he decided, “I’m going into advertising, because that way I could work with all the pieces.” Besides writing jingles and masterminding ad campaigns, he’s worked with models early in their careers, such as Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell. His passion and energy level is very infectious. “You have an idea and run with it. I’m never sitting down; I’m always running to go talk to someone because I may get another idea from that communication.” He’s worked with many of the world’s top photographers, and relates some great tales about these experiences. “I worked with George Hurrell early in my career,” he states. “He was 82 and I brought him out of retirement.” For this assignment, Hurrell photographed Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in black-and-white with an 8x10 camera. Smallwood worked with David Bailey when he photographed Verushka (“an artist and the original supermodel”) in London. He recalls that they worked all day and into the night creating beautiful images. “She had a point of view and the three of us had a ball making pictures.” He describes photographer Matthew Rolston as possessing “the epitome of style and an electric personality.” He worked with Rolston on a natural beauty campaign with Elite models against a backdrop of Utah canyons. Another notable shooter was Hans Feurer—“one of the legends”—who loved to shoot backlit images as the sun was rising or setting. “We had to be on the location at 4:00 a.m. and the model had to be ready by 5:30,” he remembers. “We were all exhausted by the end of the week.” He’s recently worked with Solange (Beyonce Knowles’ sister) on a back-to-school campaign with photographer Uli Rose. Smallwood has also worked with Robert Farber on many photo shoots throughout the world.
Creative Diversity In most cases, there’s one creative director who does retail and another who specializes in agency work, but Smallwood enjoys the best of both worlds. “What’s unique about me,” he points out, “is that I’ve worked in both advertising and retail, and I love both of them.” He enjoys retail because of the fast pace, and advertising because it involves a lot of thought about the campaign—“the right word, the right photographic technique, and how to put it all together.”
An Adventurous Spirit “In the beginning of my career,” he says, “I used to go to a lot of different locations, like Morocco, France and London. Some of the crew would stay on for a couple of days to enjoy the place that the company brought us to—but I’d always have to go home to edit the film and put the piece together.” Since then, he has decided to allot himself time to travel to many of these wonderful locales, and do some photography for himself. Smallwood got married in Africa on a boat decorated with flowers, and he and his wife wore white linen. “A lot of people want to get married with a lot of people around them, but then you spend time worrying about the event and don’t get to enjoy it. My wife and I enjoy going to Africa on safari,” he relates. He has traveled to Egypt about three times, but recently visited Petra, Jordan, in what he describes as a dream trip. “They’ve carved incredible temples out of the rocks,” he says. “Here I was, on the road in Egypt and saw amazing dunes and rock formations. The light was incredible! Of course, I got out of the car and was running through the dunes, and the Egyptian police stopped us. They were wondering what this crazy American was doing photographing the dunes. To them, it’s nothing. To us, it was absolutely exquisite.” In August, he and his wife followed the migration of animals in Tanzania. “We also went to a place that most people don’t get to called Mahale, where the chimps are,” he says. They stayed at the Nkungwe Camp in a hut on stilts at Lake Tanganika, and climbed a nearby mountainside. “We were so lucky
Inspiration Currently, Smallwood is seeking the next step in his career and says, “I’ve always been very lucky,” even though he’s created his own luck. To those just starting out, he has this to say—“If you have the desire, get some knowledge. Take classes, and try to be around people who are like-minded.” He recalls that when he was a kid with ambition, he didn’t know anyone who shared his interests. “The minute I got into an art college, I started to excel. Put yourself in the right environment and you’ll start to flourish.” He also advises people not to be afraid to dream. “If you have a passion for something and believe in it, you can get other people to believe in it too.” To see more of Thomas Smallwood's work, visit http://tsmallwood.photoworkshop.com/ CLICK HERE TO VIEW A GALLERY OF THOMAS SMALLWOOD'S IMAGES© Copyright 2002 by Photoworkshop.com |
