Stay True, Perspective From An American Writer And Photographer

The following article was written by Lisa Pellegrene, and was originally published on Patch.com on September 14, 2018.

Thomas W.P. Slatin discusses the importance of pursuing one’s true talents and abilities, and “staying true” in doing work one loves.

Thomas W.P. Slatin is a name that some know from social media, where he reaches hundreds of thousands of people in his online audience through his writing and photography. He is known by industry peers as having an “innate ability to bring life to previously abandoned places throughout the world.” He documents abandoned buildings, through his photographs and this translates into an “ability to breathe life into buildings and locations that would be otherwise forgotten,” according to industry peers. Thomas Slatin stated in a recent interview, “When I take a picture, I try to capture that moment, and I’ll know when I’ve done my job when someone looks at that image and tells me that they feel as if they were there in that moment while looking at that photograph.” Speaking of “breathing life” into his work, there is one occasion where this took on a very literal meaning, a building was restored directly attributed to Tom Slatin’s photography work. Recalling the story Slatin states, “I spent an entire day photographing an abandoned property simply for purposes of preservation, due to fearing that one day the massive structure, with its ornate Spanish style architecture and rich historical significance could be lost forever, or simply fall into such disrepair that it would not be able to be salvageable.” What resulted involved a developer who saw Slatin’s photography work online, and then this developer “became determined to restore it to its original state,” concludes Thomas Slatin.
In addition to his photography work, with a “fascination of documenting otherwise abandoned places,” Thomas W.P. Slatin is a writer. In accordance with his method relating to his photography, he “stays true” by staying authentic through his writing work also. Much of Slatin’s writing work is viewable on his website at www.tomslatin.com. Thomas Slatin describes his writing as “taking a real uninhibited look at my life relating to my experiences, my relationships, and especially my thoughts and ideas. I present them in a unique, almost journalistic fashion, reminiscent of an 80’s-era television show narrator.” By profession, he additionally couples his talent in photography and writing to assist others to develop completely customized web sites through his design work. “It has literally taken me years to perfect my skills, and it has evolved to the point where every single element is exactly where I feel it should be, and the websites that I design look great on a variety of devices,” as summarized by Slatin.
Perhaps most remarkable about Thomas Slatin’s work is his ability to “stay true,” pursing work he loves and writing about topics most authentic to him. Slatin’s advice to others, “I encourage all to pursue work that they love. The people who I know that are successful in life are the ones who refused to give up. In order to be successful, one must be resilient, and have a tremendous amount of determination and patience.” He concluded the interview with some insight, “my motivation to write is something that I feel as if I was born with. It is something that I feel strongly about and I cannot ever see myself not writing or taking photographs.” Continuing, after my father passed away, I was reminded that our time on Earth is limited. I find being authentic in all you do and staying true, is of utmost importance, it definitely is for me” concludes Slatin.