Rangefinder Magazine
July 2005

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Profile: Thomas Balsamo by Lou Jacobs Jr.
Images of Children From the Heart

When you leaf through Souls: Beneath and Beyond Autism, Thomas Balsamo’s beautiful black-and-white paean to children with autism, you see young souls portrayed with photographic tenderness. Published by McGraw-Hill in 2004 and written by Sharon Rosenbloom, the book offers a meaningful view into the multiple challenges of autism. That most of the children look at peace with themselves indicates the photographer’s closeness to his subjects.

When I asked how his career got started, Thomas replied, “I started shooting people around me in black and white when I was 10. We lived in a rural area, and I photographed a farm and the countryside of Lake Barrington, IL. I started processing and printing in a borrowed darkroom, and my life changed. I had jobs to support my photography habit, and bought my own darkroom equipment when I was 12.”

When he was 18 in 1978 he opened a studio, Portraits by Thomas. He still works in a classic simple style trying “to capture the true personalities of my subjects. I look at each assignment as an opportunity to create artwork, images that will enrich the subjects’ lives.”

The local camera shop where he hung around gave him a job when was 16, and he learned a lot of “technical stuff” from pros he talked to. “I was never satisfied. I knew I could create stronger images, then I discovered Karsh and knew the direction I wanted to go. His pictures were alive. His portraits had power and presence that spoke to my heart. I started a quest to learn how to capture the souls of my subjects, and I felt a passion to be creative, to make viewers feel emotional response. I spent a lot of time in bookstores and libraries viewing thousand of pictures, looking for the elements that moved me, hoping to find that magic formula.”

Camera shop customers frequently asked for photographer recommendations, so Thomas had business cards made, and eventually set up a studio in his parents’ basement. The living room was used for consultations, and it soon filled with display portraits. A local artist, Margarita Bauer, mentored him on pricing and “gave him a push.” He preferred black and white but had to shoot events and color and work for local studios shooting weddings to stay in business until he created a clientele. “I had little time for fun, but photography was a labor of love.”

Thomas learned about lighting by looking at portraits, he says, and trying to get the same impact in his work. “I tried all sorts of lighting,” he states, “and found the Larson Soff Box gives me the quality of light I want. I learned to light instinctively so I could put most of my attention on clients.”

To help subjects relax and reveal their inner selves, he strives for technical simplicity. “I use a single background for about a year, and then have Les Brandt www.lesbrandtbackgrounds.com paint me a new one, slightly different. I like mid-tones with some modeling. I shoot only black and white so background color is not important. I still use two large Larson Soff Boxes. I like big lights to emulate natural window light, and also they afford me more room so the children can move around and still be in my zone.” Thomas works with a Canon 1Ds and a 70–200mm lens most of the time so as not to crowd the children and to achieve close-up faces.

Asked how he captured the “true personality” of subjects, Thomas says he has a pre-portrait meeting a day prior to the session. “I try to earn their trust and help them understand about relaxing and enjoying the portrait experience. I highly encourage pre-planning meetings, and some out-of-state clients arrive a day earlier at my request. I explain that I need to understand them to truly capture them and their families. I emphasize process, relaxation and enjoyment. ‘Just be in the moment, be yourselves while we are together,’ I tell them, and the pictures we capture will be spontaneous. I want them to let their guard down. My whole operation is geared to do just that.

“I talk to parents as well as the children I’ll photograph so we can all be on the same wavelength. In a session I let my subjects be natural as much as possible. There are poses, but I don’t emphasize them. I talk to subjects frequently during the shoot to make them feel comfortable about themselves, then click. Moods and lighting evolve within the process.”

Thomas Balsamo has a portrait style that combines a sense of subject comfort, and encourages moods that are augmented by simple soft lighting, often with very few prominent shadows. In numerous images the children seem to be “visiting with” the photographer rather than posing. Even if their autistic connection may not be complete, they are often joyful, only occasionally solemn. He explains, “My style evolved while looking at thousands of images. My favorites lay on my desk for weeks, until I better understood why they moved me. I placed my work next to favorites from books and magazines and compared emotional values that moved me. After years of this process, the qualities I required started showing up in my pictures. During sessions when I see a special visual opportunity, I get excited.”

His studio occupies two units of a strip mall at a busy highway intersection in Barrington. In 2002 the studio was completely remodeled for more efficient workflow and “eclectic décor,” Thomas says, adding, “I love my office where I have a big antique display cabinet with my fossil collection including dinosaur fossils, meteorites and caveman hand tools. There’s also a saltwater tank of live corals and reef fish that clients enjoy.”

How Thomas’ personality is integral to his success is evident when he states, “I believe an artist’s work is a reflection of his or her life, and life is a reflection of his or her work. It’s true with me. I like things pure, clean and simple. People are too busy these days to connect with portraits that are posey fluff.

They have to be drawn to notice the eyes or expressions. Portraiture that makes a clear statement about the personality and essence of the subjects becomes the most valuable possession of loved ones.”
Dedicated to fine portraits as Thomas is, I wondered how he promoted his studio, and he told me, “The best method of promotion is to responsibly deliver work that the client will value. I give my all to each session, and help clients choose images they will hopefully cherish. So word of mouth has been my best promotional method. Also, I have always had a lot of print displays in restaurants, doctors’ offices, hair salons, etc. I do occasional print ads in local newspapers and magazines. I have worked with a public relations person and have a web site, www.portraitsby thomas.com.”

Promotional information about Thomas’ speaking program, “Let the Artist in You Out,” says that his clients are worldwide. His studio grosses over $500,000 a year and he’s had orders as high as $25,000.

I asked if there was a specific time when he felt his business would be successful, to which he responded, “I’ve accomplished a lot of my goals, but if I let myself feel I was there, I would stop striving to reach a higher level. The accolades I hear from clients and the level of financial investment they make for my portraits are all great. But I’ve always believed I am only as good as the results of my last assignment.”

Of his wife’s involvement in the studio, Thomas told me, “I hired Joyce before we were married, and she worked for a short time, then decided she would rather marry me than have me as her boss.” Today the studio staff consists of Kara, the office manager who also does marketing, graphic design and creates ads; John, who does all the Photoshop work and printing; and Kim, who brings high standards of design to the framing department. Thomas adds, “We sell a lot of 16x20s to 24x30s, and donate portraits to at least 40 non-profit groups a year for fund raising.”

Returning to the evolution of Souls: Beneath and Beyond Autism, Thomas searched for a group of people with a common issue for a book that would “offer a message that resonates with my images and makes a difference on an emotional level,” he explained. “When Sharon Rosenbloom commissioned portraits of her children Raia and autistic Joey, I learned about autism through her knowledge and understanding of it. I knew she had the message and was the one to write my book. I shared my plan, and we were on our way. We wanted a collective voice, and met with parents of autistic children. One with three afflicted sons questioned me carefully, looked at my mock-up, and kept in touch. One day at lunch he told me he was a vice president at McGraw-Hill and wanted to help me get the book published.

“The whole photography and book project spread over three years of incredible synergy. The book won a national award from the Autism Society of America and was featured on CNN.”

It’s clear that the kind of dedication Thomas Balsamo brings to photography has been beneficially contagious.