SAN DIEGO — An award-winning San Diego photographer is celebrating fifty years of iconic images. In this Zevely Zone, I met a local legend in photography.
Chances are if you're from San Diego you've seen Thom Vollenweider's work. I was honored to finally meet the man behind the camera. From an early age, Thom fell in love with the power of a picture.
"I like photographs and images that can make you cry and make you laugh," said Thom. The Kearny High School graduate covered five Super Bowls, three presidents, and more famous people than he can count.
"That is Tom Petty about a year before he died," said Thom. "This is James Taylor, that's Tiger Woods, this is George Burns and Phyllis Diller."
Thom was once granted exclusive access to Navy Seals for six months. "I rode in the rafts, I flew in the helicopters, I slept in the barracks with them," said Thom. When he was ten years old, he made a list with 20 goals. "I wanted to travel the world.
I wanted to work for national publications such as Time, Newsweek," said Thom. It was in Life Magazine where an image of the Dr. Seuss author Theodor Geisel was shown. I asked Thom how many images he thinks he has taken.
"Probably over 7 million. If my math is correct," said Thom. "I was the personal photographer to Ted Williams, Archie Moore, and Junior Seau. Thom shared a famous picture of the late football player showing off his game face.
From sports, to breaking news, portraits, and travel, Thom did anything to get the shot.
"I have taken off in hot air balloons that crashed. The balloon caught on fire," said Thom.
He's celebrating 50 years of photography and preparing to release a book filled with his iconic images.
Thom accomplished every goal he set for himself in photography.
"It's never been a job for me," said Thom.
He's a soft-spoken native San Diegan whose pictures say so much.
"It's something I'm very passionate about, I didn't do it for the money, I wanted to travel the world, I saw myself working for these magazines," said Thom.
Just a few of Thom's accolades include:
Contributing Photographer for Time, Sports Illustrated, World Tennis, Union-Tribune, LA Times
Team Photographer for the San Diego Chargers.
Kearny High School Hall of Fame Inductee 2019
Best Sports Photography from the World Sports Foundation in Tokyo, Japan. Selected from over 10,000 entries.
Thom plans to release his book in about a year. For more information about his career click here.