Thomas Bachand has been a professional photographer for over a decade, working in both traditional and digital mediums. In addition to private collections, his photography can be found in the Bancroft Library and the California Historical Society.
Thomas Bachand’s photography is a consideration of the land and the competing visions that inform our interaction with the world at large. Core to the work is its accessibility to the viewer. The use of color and a documentary style allow for an open and immediate connection to the subject. By embracing a historical perspective, the photography captures a sense of honesty characteristic of the medium’s early pioneers. Whether creating a single, evocative image inviting reflection or a series conveying a sense of time and place, Bachand’s exploration includes the role of storyteller. He seeks a convergence of the ordinary — extraordinary only in so much as it is revealing, offering both possibility and contemplation. Bachand’s work finds inspiration in Carleton Watkins, Eugene Atget, Ansel Adams, Richard Misrach, Larry Sultan, and Mark Rothko. For many years he assisted with photographers from all across America. His chief mentors were Grey Crawford and John Marriott.
In his monograph of cotemporary landscape photography, “Lake Tahoe: A Fragile Beauty” (Chronicle Books 2008), Bachand draws on his 40-year personal history with Lake Tahoe to explore its place as a nexus for the salient issues confronting modern society and its ability to speak directly to our culture’s attitude toward the land. Revealing the delicate balance we strike with the environment is a juxtaposition of sublime and altered landscapes. Photographed in the large-format photographic tradition and accompanied by 19th Century essays by Mark Twain and photography by Carleton Watkins, the work ties closely to the region’s early exploration. An introduction by preeminent Tahoe research scientist Dr. Charles Goldman and poetry by former US Poet Laureate and 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Hass, places the book firmly in the present day. Supporters include the Tahoe Environmental Research Center, the Oakland Museum, the Phoebe Hearst Museum, Adobe, and Hasselblad.