Tom Fields

Tom Fields is an Oklahoma Native documentary photographer. He was worked in both commercial and fine art photography during his career. Fields specializes in full-frame, black-and-white photos of Indian communities, shot as close as possible. For Fields, his work provides a "visual definition of what it is like to be Native American in Oklahoma."

Early life

Tom Fields was born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma in 1951. His father was a minister, so the family moved all over eastern Oklahoma and Kansas. Fields' earliest exposure to photography was in helping his father prepare slides for church services with his father's Instamatic camera. After he graduated from high school, Fields moved to California and became more involved with Indian youth activities, such as the National Indian Youth Council.

In 1969, Fields was a student at UCLA for a summer workshop involving graphite drawings. He eventually studied political science at the university. After his time in California, Fields returned to Oklahoma where he became involved at the University of Oklahoma with Indian student programs. In the mid to late 1970s, Fields helped out with a documentation project with the goal of capturing Native ceremonies and events on video and archiving them. After this project, he began to hang around friends that were associated with the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). During this time, Fields was exposed to printing photographs and was intrigued by the process. After this exposure, he started shooting and printing on his own. Fields and his friends were not a students at IAIA, but were taking part in photography and film projects around the area.

In 1978, Fields enrolled as an art major at Northeastern State University with his focus being in photography. Fields' work at the time was inspired by Life (magazine) photographer, Eugene Smith.

Fields' photographs were the first ever to be accepted to the Indian Art Exhibition at the Philbrook Museum of Art.

Style

Fields' documentary photography is inspired by "the emotional landscapes of Native people." His photographs often display detailed moments of spiritual and/or cultural expression.

Exhibitions and Awards

Fields began to exhibit his work in 1979. Some of these places include:

• Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe
• National Museum of the American Indian
• Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
• Banff Centre in Banff, Canada
• New Orleans Museum of Art

In 2011, his work, “Nativescapes: A View from the Interior,” was displayed at the Oklahoma State Capitol Complex in Oklahoma City.