An abbreviated Biography of Tom Upton with Bullets

1950's

  • Sprouted up as youngest of four in Northern New Jersey (1)
  • Started rocking, frightened parents
  • First work of art was writing my name on the stucco of the garage. The media was deep red lipstick stolen from my Mother's purse. Got spanked.

1960's

  • I pretended our standard Poodle was a younger brother, became a boy-scout, and rode my bike without a helmet. (2)
  • Got sent to New England boarding school to prevent strong accent. (3)
  • Picked up a Minolta SRT 101 single lens reflex camera in September 1967.
  • After recovering from appendicitis, I moved into in the dormitory basement darkroom.
  • Discovered listening to Stereo headphones while sitting at a drum kit was cool.

1970's

  • Grades were still a sore point. I hid in the dormitory basement darkroom for two more years.
  • I experimented with college Vermont; quit cold turkey, and drove into the sunset with Slingerlands, using Oldsmobile.(4)
  • While at Art Center, in L.A., I marveled at the freeways early Saturday Mornings while listening to Alan Watts on KMET.
  • Got married but lived in darkrooms. Wife said I smelled funny. The marriage smelled funny.

1980's

  • Became a photographer's assistant for four years. (5)
  • Photographed the freeways I admired so much with an 8x10 Pinhole camera.
  • Still hid in Darkrooms.
  • Made a photo studio out of a Launderette in East Palo Alto. Dad Helped (6)
  • Got married again, this time properly. (7)

1990's

  • Combined creativity with procreativity. Came out of the darkroom to eat and change diapers. (8)
  • Warmed up to parenting and partnership, and started a respectable career in Photography.
  • Spend obscene amounts of money and time on computers and software that consistently performed like a rural high school orchestras.
  • Nevertheless I won first place in NYPDN's Self promotion awards for my web site in 1996
  • The Great Spirit gave us Photoshop and the Leaf digital back!
  • I Created a Digital Studio with Applied Graphics Technologies

2000

  • Got an Artist’s Grant from the Peninsula Community Foundation
  • I couldn't hide in the Darkroom any more; and sadly, sold it off.
  • Created a Digital Studio for Solzer Studios in San Francisco
  • Started drinking coffee after 10 year hiatus. (9)
  • Observed the Peter Principle in person; and so, recreated my own digital photography practice and Phototrainer
  • The rest is as they say on the Web "under construction"

  

© 2006 TomStudio