Chin & Eyes, from the "Recycled Realities" series

About the Photographer

Young, Tom

American, b. 1951

Tom Young’s ethereal assemblages in his series, Timeline (2009-2011), tell a visual narrative of events that have marked his life – including a haunting experience as a child where a procedure left his eyes bandaged, and the subsequent pain he felt as the light pierced his eyes for the first time in weeks. The series, Recycled Realities (1998), tells a different story: collaborating with photographer John Willis, Young photographed a paper mill near their homes in western Massachusetts, highlighting the ominous architecture of the factory and the endless bales of scraped paper that line the property.

Tom Young completed his BA in Photography from Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont (1973) and a MFA form the Rhode Island School of Design (1977). Along with numerous national and international exhibitions, his awards have included an Artist Fellowship for the National Endowment for the Arts (1995); Massachusetts Artist Fellowship from the Massachusetts Cultural Council (2007, 1999, 1995, 1986, 1981). His work is included in the public collections of the Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas; Center for Creative Photography, Tucson; George Eastman House Museum, Rochester; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; and the Portland Museum of Art, among many others.