Tom Stahl

Based in San Francisco, Tom Stahl is an internationally exhibited landscape and travel photographer. Having explored over 60 countries, he left engineering to capture the world, blending technical precision with dreamlike compositions. He is also the author of Traveling Light.

Tom Stahl

San Francisco-based photographer Tom Stahl captures the beauty of travel, landscape and architecture with an eye for technical precision and wonder. He first picked up a camera at 25, leaving behind his engineering career to embark on an 18-month world journey that changed the course of his life. Since then, Tom has photographed in more than 60 countries across six continents, from tracking lions in Zimbabwe to swimming with humpback whales in Hawaii and watching the moon rise over the Sahara. His work transforms ordinary scenes into striking, dreamlike compositions that invite viewers to see the world anew. Tom’s photography has been exhibited internationally, including in London, Berlin, New York and Beijing and featured in institutions such as the de Young Museum, the National Zoological Museum of China and the Yosemite Museum. His first book, Traveling Light: Photographs and Stories (2024), celebrates a lifetime of adventure and artistic discovery.

Tom Stahl

San Francisco-based photographer Tom Stahl captures the beauty of travel, landscape and architecture with an eye for technical precision and wonder. He first picked up a camera at 25, leaving behind his engineering career to embark on an 18-month world journey that changed the course of his life. Since then, Tom has photographed in more than 60 countries across six continents, from tracking lions in Zimbabwe to swimming with humpback whales in Hawaii and watching the moon rise over the Sahara. His work transforms ordinary scenes into striking, dreamlike compositions that invite viewers to see the world anew. Tom’s photography has been exhibited internationally, including in London, Berlin, New York and Beijing and featured in institutions such as the de Young Museum, the National Zoological Museum of China and the Yosemite Museum. His first book, Traveling Light: Photographs and Stories (2024), celebrates a lifetime of adventure and artistic discovery.

Currently based in

United States

Favorite Look

Lake Donner Piles - Collection: USA

Recognition

2017 International Photography Awards - Third place, Events
2017 Travel Photographer of the Year - Runner up, New Talent
2019 Tokyo International Foto Awards - Bronze Medal, Events
2019 Budapest International Foto Awards - Bronze Medal, Architecture
2022 Architecture Master Prize - Winner, Honorable Mention

Remarkable Facts

In 2013 I was charged to within 6 feet by a full grown grizzly bear, while out shooting sunrise photos at Wonder Lake in Denali National Park, Alaska.