Terrible Conversations w/ Tom Wright
Tom Wright is a photography consultant based in Burnley, UK. He calls himself a phototherapist, and no, he's not a doctor. But photographers that work with him tend to leave unstuck.
Tom started in 2011 teaching photographers how to shoot Impossible Project instant film. From there he shot weddings for over a decade, moved into commercial photography, and eventually traded client work for consulting after discovering that helping photographers was the thing that actually got him out of bed.
In this conversation, we talk about what it means to develop a style versus chasing trends, why AI is eating the bottom of the photography market, and what most photographers are missing when they look at their own work.
We also spend way too long talking about British food. You're welcome.
What we get into:
- Why Tom calls himself a phototherapist and what that actually means
- The difference between fashion and style in photography
- What bifurcation is doing to the industry right now
- Why the artists are still there, just quieter
- How Tom identifies what's already working in someone's portfolio
- The Polaroid workshops that started it all
- Why commodity photography has a shrinking runway
- What to do if you don't feel like you have anything interesting to say
Find Tom at
bytomw.com and on
Instagram at @bytomw. Consultations are free. Go get unstuck.
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THE BOOK Lessons From a Terrible Photographer is out now. It’s part memoir, part field guide, and part honest conversation about what it actually costs to build a creative life. If this episode landed, the book goes deeper into finding the "Source" when the "Resource" runs dry.
LINKS
Email is always open. Questions, thoughts, hate mail. I respond to everything. Link above.
The Terrible Creative is written, produced, and hosted by Patrick Fore. Images Licensed through Adobe Stock. Music licensed through Epidemic Sound and Blue Dot Sessions. Recorded from my garage in San Diego, California.
What is The Terrible Creative?
The Terrible Creative is a storytelling podcast for photographers, designers, and creative professionals working through the parts of the creative process no gear review or business course ever covers.
Each episode is 30 to 40 minutes. Solo. Story-driven. Built around mental health, artistic identity, and what honest work costs in a career rewarding performance over truth.
This is not a photography podcast about cameras, presets, or client strategy. This is a podcast about the inner experience of being a creative professional, made for the mid-career photographer or designer who has mastered the technical side but lost the thread.
Hosted by Patrick Fore, commercial photographer, author, and former lead photographer and brand designer for Taylor Guitars. His work has appeared globally for clients like Nike, Petco, and Verizon. He built this show because none of the podcasts he found addressed the real problem.
If you are a photographer or creative professional who feels competent on the outside and quietly lost on the inside, you are a Terrible Creative. This is your podcast.