An Inspired Chat with Tom Griggs of Medellin, Colombia

Tom Griggs shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Good morning Tom, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
After breaking my arm playing pickup basketball a few years ago, I started looking for another activity that I could do for the next phase of life. I ended up with salsa dancing. I live in Medellín, Colombia where there are a lot of great places to learn and to go out dancing. It’s become a big part of my life both for physical activity and socially.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a photographer and writer that focuses largely on making photobooks. I work specifically in two ways: on photography of what I observe in the world, and on image-text books that draw on many image sources, everything from my own photography to my family archive, found online images, digital collage, and scans of documents.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who taught you the most about work?
I would say that an Italian-American jack of all trades construction worker that I worked for for a number of years. He taught me to have pride in my craft and to pay attention to details. I remember talking with him once during a particular job about why we were painting the tops of the doors if no one would ever see them. He said, “No one else will know, but you will know that you didn’t do the job as well as you could have.” Point taken.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
When I was younger, I had a very strong work drive. I was serious about art, serious about life. I would tell my younger self to be a little gentler on myself, and to balance out that strong drive and seriousness with letting go a bit more, to trust the process and to let the world to do its part, and to find a bit more of the humor and absurdity in the project we call building a life.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
There is not a complete correlation between publication and the quality of the work published, or even a very strong one. I would say that the photography industry tends to believe that work is good if published by a big name press, and not good if unpublished, or published by a lesser known press. There are so many other factors at play, including the marketing perspective for the work, the valuation of the name of the person making the work, and social network connections that got the work before the right person.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I would stop beginning days by attacking the small things on my to do lists. I’d push harder to put the big things first, the truly important projects of my life, and to let them fill my days as much as possible.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tomgriggs.net
• Instagram: @griggstom