Tom Gaukel started taking photos when he was given his grandfather’s Kodak Retina camera and a light meter at the age of 10. Since then, he has worked in a few camera stores, taken tourist portraits on the top of a mountain, and worked as a freelance photographer. Tom has witnessed firsthand the photographic world change from film to digital, DSLR to Mirrorless, and now from traditional cameras to iPhone cameras—which he’s been experimenting with since he got his first iPhone in 2008 with a whopping 3.2-megapixel camera.

Tom was introduced to Adobe Photoshop v. 3.0 while a Graphics Editor at John Muir Publications, and soon after began working as a teaching assistant in the Digital Lab at Santa Fe Workshops where he honed his Photoshop skills. He led several classes at the Workshops before striking out as a retoucher.

Today, Tom is a freelance retoucher working on beauty, fashion, product, automotive, and entertainment imagery for clients in the US and Europe. He’s retouched photos by many esteemed photographers, including Ryan McGinley, Paolo Roversi, Bruce Weber, and Martin Parr, and has worked on projects for companies and publications such as Purple Magazine, Adidas, Uniqlo, Showtime, American Crew, Kate Spade, and British Vogue.

Tom has a BA in political science from Western Colorado University and an MA in liberal arts from St. John’s College.