ABOUT

Thom Pierce (born 1978 in Jersey, Channel Islands) is an award-winning British portrait photographer, currently based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Over the last ten years, he has built a substantial body of work that has been exhibited in major international galleries and festivals.

His work explores the line between art, documentary, and traditional portrait photography to create carefully crafted dramatic images. He splits his time between personal projects and commissioned work.

In 2022 Thom started working on an ongoing series of portraits called The Actionists, profiling human rights defenders, climate activists, artists and innovators around South Africa.

Thom is a recipient of the Piclet Prize for Contemporary African Photography and the PDN storytellers award, and his work can be found in the permanent collection of the South African National Gallery. In 2017 he was chosen as a finalist in the Magnum Photographic Awards and selected for the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Notable international exhibitions include solo shows at Everard Read Gallery - Johannesburg, ArtCo Gallery - Aachen, The Guardian Gallery - London, The Museum of Tomorrow - Rio De Janeiro, and the United States Senate in Washington D.C.

Thom’s work has been published globally in newspapers, magazines, and books. It has also been featured as part of several human rights campaigns.

Selected Past Exhibitions

The Objectors - War Resisters International Conference, Cape Town - July 2014

Andriesvale - Mogalakwena Gallery, Cape Town - September to October 2014

The Objectors - The Castle, Cape Town - September - October 2014

Platfontein (The Bushman Hip-Hop Generation) - Youngblood Gallery, Cape Town - October 2014

The Objectors - Friends of Design, Cape Town - November 2014

Simplify (part of "Black & White" curated exhibition) - Johans Borman Gallery, Cape Town - November 2014

Andriesvale - South Gallery, Cape Town - November - January 2015

The Objectors - South Gallery, Cape Town - March 2015

Black Sash 60th Anniversary Exhibition - Artscape, Cape Town - August 2015

The Price of Gold - Iziko Slave Lodge, Cape Town - December 2015 to March 2016

The Objectors - Part of group exhibition 'Studio' at South African National Gallery - 2016

The Horsemen of Semonkong - Circa, Johannesburg - 2016

The Horsemen of Semonkong - ArtCo Gallery, Germany - July 2017

Les Nuits de la Photographie - Les Rencontres De La Photographie - Arles 2017

Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize - The National Portrait Gallery - London 2017 to 2018

The Price of Gold - Head On - Sydney, Australia 2018

The Defenders - The Guardian HQ - London 2018

The Defenders - Museum of Tomorrow - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2018

CDC Front Lines - Atlanta International Airport - Atlanta, USA 2019

CDC Front Lines - United States Senate - Washington D.C. 2019

Festivals

Featured at the following festivals:

Cape Town Month of Photography (South Africa), Head on (Australia), Secvente (Romania), Fotografvaki (Turkey), Lagos Photo (Nigeria), Addis Photo (Ethiopia), La Quatrieme Image (France), PhotOn (Spain), Art Photo Barcelona (Spain), FestFoto (Brazil), Krakov Photomonth (Poland), Los Angeles Festival of Photography (USA), Odessa/Batumi Photo Days (Ukraine), Format (UK).