Tom Leighton
My work looks at the structures that shape both natural landscapes and contemporary architecture. Using photography, I explore rock formations, plant life, architecture and public spaces, observing how time, pressure, and human activity leave their mark on surfaces and environments.
In the studio, these photographs are reworked through colour adjustments, layering, and digital construction, allowing the original subjects to move beyond straightforward documentation. Across my series, rock strata become detailed maps of geological time, while architectural forms are isolated and rearranged into sculptural compositions. These transformations invite viewers to see familiar environments in new ways and to consider the forces that shape them.
The work moves between observation and construction, using photography both as a record and as material to create new visual spaces. Through this approach, I explore the energy within landscapes and structures and the ways places evolve over time.
Education:
2004 – 2006: Royal College of Art, MA Printmaking
2001 – 2004: University of Brighton, BA Hons Degree Fine Art Printmaking
Solo Exhibitions:
Tom Leighton at The Boca Raton Tower, Miami, 2023
Outwards From Home, ROA Gallery, London, 2017
Collective View, Gallery 27, Cork Street, London, 2012
Appropriation of Space, Gallery 27, Cork Street, London, 2010
Tom Leighton, Foundation Starke Berlin, 2010
Reifier, The Cynthia Corbett Gallery, Maverik Showroom, London, 2008
Urbo Vido, The Cynthia Corbett Gallery, London, 2007
Selected Exhibitions:
Adobe MAX, Showcase with Behance 2024
The Grey Area, Oshi Gallery, Melbourne, 2022
The Tokyo International Foto Awards, Tokyo, 2020
Winter Exhibition, ROA Gallery, London, 2019
Residency, Home House, London 2018
Summer Exhibition, ROA Gallery, London, 2018
Architectonic, Site 109, New York, 2014
RE:DEFINE at The Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas, 2012
Art at The Top, The Cynthia Corbett Gallery, The Empire State Building, New York, 2010
Cultural Detritus, Pippy Houldsworth, London, 2010
Man Photography Prize, Royal College of Art, London, 2009
Contiguous Zone "Virtual Records", YOD Gallery, Osaka, Japan, 2009
Barock Plastik: Group Show, I-MYU Projects, London, 2009
R.A. Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, Piccadilly, London, 2006, 2007, 2009
Tech-Mac-Mayacom, Tokyo, 2007
Ways of Seeing, The Air Gallery, London, 2007
Sea Change, Mark Jason Gallery, London, 2007
Snap, UCLH Street Gallery, Warren St, London, 2006
Syncro-tron, Aqqifin Gallery, Commercial St, London, 2006
Zenith 6, Nomoregrey Gallery, Redchurch St, London, 2006
Selected Collections:
AT&T Corporate Collection, USA
ING Group, London
Kunsthalle Weishaupt Collection, Germany
MuCEM (French National Museum of European and Mediterranean civilisations)
Sandor Family Collection, Chicago
Shein Family Collection of Pennsylvania
UBS Art Collection, London UCLH, London
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
William Blair, Chicago / London
Awards:
Fine Art Photography Awards 2021 - 1st Place
Tokyo International Foto Awards 2020 - Bronze
Tokyo International Foto Awards 2020 - Honorary Mention
International Photography Awards 2020 - Honorary Mention
Fine Art Photography Awards 2020 - 1st Place
Prix de la Photographie de Paris ( PX3 ) - Honorary Mention
Life Framer ‘World Traveller’ Award 2020 - Honorary Mention
Independent Photographer ‘Colour’ Award - Finalist
Tokyo International Foto Awards 2019 - 1st Place
Themes and Hudson Prize - Winner
John Purcell Paper Prize - Winner
