Thomas Barrasso

Thomas Barrasso is a geologist and chemist with more than 28 years of experience with environmental issues in both the public and private sectors.  He earned his geology degree from Salem State College where he also studied photography. 

He grew up in Boston in the 1960s and always had some form of camera at his side.  In the early days that was an Argus twin lens medium format, or a Polaroid.  Fascinated by Ansel Adams by the 1980s he was making images in the Salem State darkroom attempting to bring those techniques to his landscapes of New England, mainly the Mount Washington Valley region of New Hampshire.

The camera became a tool for seeing the world and blending science and art.

Translating his interest in music to photography was made by photographing concerts and events of many of his music interests including: The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane members, Galaxie 500, Miles Davis, Ray Charles, and Dave Brubeck.  In the 90s most of his photography revolved around local Boston bands that used his images in CD covers and The Noise Magazine. 

At the turn of the century the move to digital photography unleashed unparalleled creativity.  Real time monitoring of the image, Photoshop, and non-destructive editing has meant a complete rethinking of the process.  Without the luxury of a fulltime darkroom for most of the time he was behind the camera the change to digital meant full control of the process from start to finish.  The process now involves Nikon and Fuji cameras and a variety of software for correcting image variances, simulating films, and bringing out what the mind sees.  This has really gone from capturing the moment to creating an image that attempts to show the viewer what the photographer has experienced while in the moment.