About Us
Tom Edwards: A Raleigh Photographer’s Journey
Tom Edwards, a photographer in Raleigh, founded New Image Studio in 1989. With no formal training, he had just a camera and a burning curiosity that turned into a fire he never let go out. He taught himself everything, one frame at a time. In doing so, he taught me the biggest lesson of my life: if you open your eyes, there’s always something worth capturing. I grew up observing that self-taught spark become mastery. My sisters and I were some of his first subjects. We watched him create sets and test lights, with no idea we were witnessing him build a life’s work. Dad has a wondrous eye for architecture. He notices the way afternoon light drapes across a facade, the rhythm of windows, the story in a doorway. He brought that same tenderness to product photography, finding the one angle that made even the plainest object feel alive. Nothing was ever too small to photograph with care.
As Tom Edwards’ skill as a photographer grew, so did his generosity. He opened his doors to other photographers and taught them everything he’d once had to learn alone. So many of them went on to build their own studios because of him. He never held anything close to his chest. That’s the part of him I admire most. But talent alone was never the whole story. My dad has this magical way with people, a warmth and quirkiness that puts a total stranger at ease within seconds. Jovial, enthusiastic, and genuinely delighted to meet whoever walked through the door, he bonded with clients so fast it felt like they’d known him for years. He showed me what unreasonable hospitality looks like in practice. And he taught me something I’ve never forgotten: people remember the experience far longer than they remember the photo. A good photo matters. But how someone feels in the room is what stays with them.
When I moved back to North Carolina from San Francisco in 2010, I didn’t know I’d one day run this studio. I only knew I had that same fire, the same drive to learn everything I could about photography and the business behind it. I taught myself image editing as its own craft, shaping light and color long after the shutter closed. I taught myself the technical side too, web and code, because I wanted to understand every piece of it. My dad and I worked side by side for years after that. I learned by watching, by asking questions, and by getting things wrong in front of him and getting better because he let me. Slowly, the torch passed from his hands to mine. He’s since moved into other ventures too, but that fire has never gone out. He still picks up a camera. He still finds something worth capturing, because that’s simply who he is. Every session I shoot today carries a piece of what he taught me. New Image Studio isn’t just a business he started in 1989. It’s a craft built from curiosity and light, and a legacy I get to carry forward every day.
Thank you, Dad, for teaching me not just how to take a photograph, but how to truly see. Beauty isn’t confined to where the world tells you to look for it. It lives in a weathered building, a chipped mug, a face lined with a lifetime of living. My dad taught me to set that narrow idea aside. There is beauty in everything, if you’re willing to open your eyes, and your heart.
