ABOUT THE ARTIST
SALLY THOMSON
Sally Thomson is a documentary photographer and lens-based artist based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her work explores the relationship between people, land, and place across rural and underrepresented regions of the world. Reflecting her background in landscape architecture and environmental conservation, she is drawn to places often dismissed as empty, disappearing, or peripheral, yet shaped by generations of land-based knowledge.
While much of her work is documentary, Sally also challenges traditional notions of the photograph through the use of digital and analog processes, as well as mixed media and printmaking techniques. This expanded approach allows her to explore ideas of time, memory, and materiality beyond a single image.
Her work has appeared in a range of print and web-based publications and has been commissioned by private individuals and organizations.
COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS
Photographers Without Borders, Toronto, Canada - The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Minca, Colombia, 2020
The ACEER Foundation in collaboration with the National Geographic Society and Inkaterra, Madre de DiosRegion, Peru - Various environmental education initiatives 1995-2003
The Vermont Rotary, Hands to Honduras Project, Tela, Honduras - 2
The Seventh Generation Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico - Pika as Indicators of Climate Change; Beaver Relocation Project 2010-2011
The New Mexico Land Conservancy, Santa Fe New Mexico - Various Land Trust projects, Albuquerque, NM
The Southwest Grass-fed Livestock Alliance, Santa Fe, New Mexico - Ranching for the Future, a video production, 2012
EXHIBITIONS
2024/2025 - Cultivating Homeground - Solo show based on her book, HOMEGROUND, in collaboration with Quivira Coalition and the Western Landowners Alliance, Co-Fe Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2019 A Contemporary Look at Childhood in New Mexico, Group Show, Edition One Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2018 Grace and Grit, Grant Finalist, The 5th Biennial for Fine Art & Documentary Photography, Barcelona, Spain
2018 The Architecture of Beauty Gallery with a Cause, NMCC, Albuquerque New Mexico
2017 Disappearing World, Edition One Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2016 Homeground, Solo show, Popejoy Hall, Center for the Arts, University of New Mexico
2016 Gallery with a Cause, NMCC, Albuquerque, New Mexico
2016 Transitions, Edition One Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2016 Faith, Edition One Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2015 Through Her Eyes, A Women's Photographic Exhibition, Albuquerque, NM
2014 Annual New Mexico Photographic Art Show, Juror
2013- Present Tularosa Basin Gallery of Photography, Carrizozo, New Mexico
2012 Insight, Albuquerque, NM; ELCC Best Image Award
2011 Insight Albuquerque, NM; Juror, Kathleen Clemons, Best Image Award
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts, The University of North Carolina
Master of Landscape Architecture, North Carolina State University, School of Design