I first met Tom over 20 years ago and then randomly bumped into him in the kitchen of an advertising agency I was working for at the time. One minute you're grabbing a coffee between meetings, next minute one of the world's greatest photo journalists is asking if you'd like the milk.
I spoke to Tom regularly on 'the gram' and have missed our exchanges since his passing in 2021. I often wonder what would draw his focus today given the state of the world. Tom's work changed the way I see the world and he remains one of the most profoundly empathetic and influential documentary photographers of our times.
Leica Gallery London are running a short retrospective from 5 November 2024 to 2 January 2025. The exhibition highlights Stoddart’s impactful career spanning over five decades, capturing both historic events (including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Romanian Revolution, Nelson Mandela’s inauguration) together with more intimate subject portraiture. But Tom's work extended beyond war zones; he collaborated with humanitarian organisations like Médecins Sans Frontières and Oxfam, highlighting human suffering and resilience. It was never about him, it was always about the stories that needed to be told.
iWitness (published by Trolley) is a collection of Stoddart’s photojournalism up to 2003. It includes his photographs of famine and AIDS in Africa, the siege of Sarajevo and war in Iraq.
I will write a follow up once I have had chance to visit the exhibition.
Tom Stoddart’s own website (www.tomstoddart.com) includes a selection of his extensive photojournalism and corporate work, plus biographical information.
