Contact
tomg @ eleven9studio.com
Eleven 9 Studio is the creative home of photographer Thomas D. Gallagher, a visual artist whose work explores the layered relationships between people and the environments they inhabit, both built and wild. With roots in Chicago and the desert Southwest, Thomas works at the intersection of abstraction, architecture, and landscape, using photography to evoke themes of memory, identity and place.
His images are held in private collections and have been featured in galleries, publications, and interior installations across the U.S. and abroad. With a background in commercial photography and project management, spanning industries such as construction, advertising, and music, Thomas brings both creative insight and professional discipline to his artistic practice.
Thomas works across analog, digital, and Polaroid formats, blending tactile processes with contemporary aesthetics to create work that feels both timeless and atmospheric. His photographs are designed to engage viewers emotionally and spatially, making them especially resonant in interior environments, whether curated for private collectors, boutique hotels, or large-scale corporate settings.
He received his B.A. from Southern Illinois University and has lived and traveled internationally, an experience that continues to inform his interest in culture, place, and context. Thomas currently splits his time between Chicago, IL and Las Cruces, NM, where he lives, photographs, and operates Eleven 9 Studio.
For inquiries, commissions, or collaborations, contact
Artist Statement - 2026
My methodology has always been to explore and collect, guided by intuition instead of strictly by reason. First informed by my environment through close observation, later creating sequences and narratives that seek to articulate the deeper, often hidden connections within my subjects. Most of my projects unfold over many years; they remain open and evolving, reflecting the slow accumulation of experience. Central to my work is an inquiry into what I think of as the metaphorical ontology of place: how territory, ecology, and atmosphere form a living structure of meaning. The work is my attempt to understand and communicate the spirit or identity of the environment.
As a person that is highly sensitive and overly stimulated in his environment, I hold a strong conviction that our mental and physical health is directly and profoundly tied to our atmosphere. So, I choose to examine and excavate my emotions tied directly to my environment and current state of being. The external world is not merely a backdrop; it is an active participant to our inner state. Consequently, a core component of my work involves a disciplined process of examining and excavating my own emotions. The art, therefore, becomes a register of this internal and external dynamic, a record of how the atmosphere shapes the self.