Photos of the American West

Eric Thome grew up outside of Baltimore, Maryland. Eric was accepted into Maryland Institute College of Art as a Graphic Design major, but the Foundation (Freshman) year also required art history, sculpture, color theory, drawing, and painting classes. Eric moved to Portland, Oregon, and transferred to the Pacific Northwest College of Art the following year. After a graphic design internship during his junior year, Eric changed his major to Inter-Media Art (taking printmaking, photography, and video classes). Eric started with black-and-white photography courses in the darkroom at PNCA. Eric began photographing what was remaining at ghost town sites in 2005. These vanishing places fueled Eric's drive to document the remains of the American West as artistically as possible, despite potential constraints of a location (such as modernity, junk or other non-historic distractions). Natural lighting, weather conditions, wildfire smoke, and other issues also affect on-location shooting. Beginning with his Portland darkroom days, Eric was also interested in photographing historic buildings, signs, and sites from living towns and cities (which are also being vandalized and disappearing). Eric has been interested in Native American cultures, arts and activism since his early teenage years. Eric has traveled to places he finds exciting and awe-inspiring, taking him through more beautiful scenery than he can photograph during thoroughly planned trips.