A native Californian, Tracy J. Thomas is a professional photographer, writer and website designer and serves as Multimedia Director and Photo Editor for the i Pinion Syndicate . She served as Localization Manager and Director of International Web Development for companies such as Palladium Interactive, Broderbund, The Learning Company, Mattel Interactive and PeoplePC and as a Producer for Smashcast Inc. where she managed clients such as Kodak & Ofoto. She finally bailed on all the high-tech craziness to build a wooden canoe and pursue her passion for photography.
Tracy received her M.A. from the University of San Francisco in Sports Management and her M.F.A. in Documentary Photography at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She currently teaches a variety of workshops through the Yolo County Arts Council.
Tracy's work has been published in Baja California Magazine, City Trees Magazine, West Sacramento Press, Academic Press and in numerous other publications and websites. Her work has also appeared in gallery showings and in private collections.
She was the 2010 recipient of the View of Farmlands Grant Commission from YoloArts and the James Irvine Foundation.
Tracy is a member of the American Society of Media Photographers, Society for Photographic Education and the College Art Association.
An All Too Familiar Reflection
They move through this life on the edge of the shadows, blending into the sidewalks and doorways where society has decided their blight should remain. Often ignored, each one has a story, one not so different from my own. Their stories, like a common breath, help to remind me who I am and where I come from. They help to define me. They have allowed me to glimpse a piece of their souls from a space of unedited, raw honesty. Few have anything to hide. Few have anything at all except for the bit of self that remains, raw and undefined by possessions.
An All Too Familiar Reflection is more than a documentary series on the homeless. It is a personal reflection on the transitory nature of relationships, the fleeting connections that are formed throughout ones life and the lasting impact those unions have on the soul. It is a series about human beings who still display strength, dignity and grace in the midst of difficult circumstances. Through capturing quiet moments in time that display the connection between my subjects and self I am reminded that we are not so different from each other. Each of us serves as a familiar reflection for the next. For that brief moment in time we are not separated by our differences, but brought together by the recognition of our similarities.
The Voices Project was created to provide the homeless, formerly homeless and advocates of the homeless with an opportunity to share their stories, their insights, and their thoughts on the issue of homelessness in our country today. This project will continue to grow so check back regularly to meet these incredible people and hear what they have to say.
OCCUPY
While I was finalizing my Master's thesis the Occupy movement rose to the surface in our country. I began to hear about it daily in the news and noticed Occupy encampments popping up in my part of California.
The more I read and watched, I realized how relevant this movement was not only to my own life circumstances but to the lives of the homeless people I had been working with over the past 2.5 years during my thesis work.
I began to visit Occupy camps in cities close to me including Sacramento, Berkeley, San Francisco and Oakland. I have been taking stills, video and audio interviews and plan to edit these pieces into a short multimedia documentary piece in the future.
I am going to branch out into other towns and cities to visit Occupy camps throughout California and in other states for as long as the movement survives. I believe this is an important point in the history of our country and I want to be present to document it.
The following pages include some of the photographs, audio and videos I have taken over the past few months since the movement's inception.
