Cenevox: The New Voice

T.J. Thomson is an award-winning photojournalist, designer, and writer. Thomson founded Cenevox LLC in early 2013 as his flagship brand to represent his imaging interests and unify his professional presentation to his growing audience. Cenevox strives to...

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On the other side (of the world and country)

On the other side (of the world and country)

A visual exploration of Perth, Western Australia

It all started with a pile of rope. The cord was mixed in color and evidenced the richness of its experience through frayed segments of salt-kissed and sun-drenched straw and charcoal. This humble rope lay coiled on the ground next to the irregular teeth of the Barrack Street Jetty in Perth, Western Australia; the other side of the world and the…

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Standing on the shoulders of giants

Standing on the shoulders of giants

My academic lineage includes American Psychological Association co-founder Edward Wheeler (Ph.D., 1891, Leipzig University) and American Council on Education for Journalism accreditation designer and Missouri School of Journalism Dean Earl F. English (Ph.D., 1944, University of Iowa).

My predecessors trained at both private, ivy league institutions as well as flagship public research…

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A day at the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art

A day at the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art

My sister emailed me on Jan. 1, 2017, and asked if I wanted to join her in LoDo later in the week to sample the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art. I did some checking online and found out the institution houses five galleries, three educational venues, a gift shop, and a rooftop café. We decided to give it a go and set off for Denver on Tuesday afternoon.

After a harrowing, three-point turn…

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A taste of Colorado winter in 12 pictures

A taste of Colorado winter in 12 pictures

The day after Christmas, my family sat in our living room and brainstormed ideas of how to spend the rest of the holiday break. A day trip to Steamboat was proposed and, around 7:35 a.m. this morning, we rolled out of Golden, Colo., and headed westbound on I-70.

Flurries greeted us along the way but we were granted a temporary reprieve upon reaching the 1.6-mile Eisenhower Tunnel. After we…

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Spying sheep on the steep

Spying sheep on the steep

Two Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep ewes sit atop a rocky outcropping adjacent Castle Mountain in Estes Park, Colo., on Jan. 6, 2016.

As my dad made his way down windy Trail Ridge Road, he spotted a bighorn sheep silhouetted against the sky about 100 feet above us. We pulled over, grabbed our gear, and backtracked up the road for a better view.

After closer examination, we spotted another ewe to the…

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Rockies offer rugged grandeur

Rockies offer rugged grandeur

My dad makes his way down the Upper Beaver Meadows trail in the Rocky Mountain National Park on Jan. 5, 2016.

About a week ago, I sat with my parents at a burger joint plotting our upcoming subalpine adventure. They individually asked my sister and I for trip ideas so we wouldn’t influence each other. I floated the idea of an evening campfire and, less than a week later, my family graciously…

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Hunting the hunter

A bobcat stalks the east side of the Rocky Mountain National Park on Jan. 4, 2016. Bobcats are one of five predators in the park.

The sun was already casting long shadows across the landscape’s cragged peaks when we arrived at the Rocky Mountain National Park Fall River entrance station around 4 p.m. earlier today. In the first hour, we (and by we, I mean my sharp-eyed parents and sister) spotted…

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Denver Zoo Lights meld fire, ice

Denver Zoo Lights meld fire, ice

A girl checks her cell phone while patrons mill through the Denver Zoo during its 25th annual holiday lights event on Jan. 2, 2016. The attraction featured more than 150 animated sculptures across 70 acres.

Strolling through the Denver Zoo after dark during the holidays is something of a tradition for our family. I remember huddling next to the polar bear tank while wolfing down a sub sandwich on…

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Tucker Greenhouse offers a balmy oasis amidst December cold

Tucker Greenhouse offers a balmy oasis amidst December cold

The metal and glass limbs of Tucker Greenhouse soar toward a gray Missouri sky on Dec. 14, 2015.

After a string of unseasonably warm days, 40-degree temperatures startled Columbia from its placid December sleep and drove me to the streaked panes of Tucker Greenhouse, one of Mizzou’s many green spaces.

Once inside, I watched white and orange koi dart across the dark waters of a pond in…

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How academia has (so far) changed me

How academia has (so far) changed me

The gothic walls of Gates Hall rise adjacent barren trees at Grinnell College on Nov. 25, 2015. The hall acquired its name from the college’s second president, George Augustus Gates, who headed the institution from 1887 to 1900. Metadata: f/10; 1/100; ISO 649; 16mm focal length

Since my previous post five months ago, I’ve started work on a Ph.D. degree at the Missouri School of Journalism,…

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Downtown hub in transition after Shakespeare's Pizza demolished

Page 1A and Page 4A of the Columbia Missourian highlight the destruction of the downtown Shakespeare’s Pizza location.

Shakespeare’s Pizza was more than a restaurant. It was a drinking buddy to some. A college hangout for others. An escape from the clean and mass produced workflows that so many other restaurants adopt.

It was quirky. The architecture, the people, and the little touches, like the…

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The four essential elements any great brand needs

The University of Missouri board of curators adopted the institution’s seal, designed by John S. Ankeney, in 1903.

Marketing types and other nerdy, font-loving folks (myself included!) often get too hung up on the transient and granular aspects of branding. How does the logo look? What configurations are acceptable? Has the color palette been established? And let’s not even wade into the weeds of…

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A tale of two pages

The front page of the June 6, 2015, edition of the Columbia Daily Tribune, left, and the June 7-8 edition of the Columbia Missourian, both highlighting a 5-year-old boy’s struggle with cancer.

On June 3, 2015, one of our staff photographers pitched an idea to our Director of Photography, Brian Kratzer, about attending a vigil for Bryson Smith, a 5-year-old boy stricken with cancer.

Three days…

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Hate feature hunting? Read these 5 tips

A man biking south on Ripley Street stops to pet a cat on June 1, 2015, in Columbia, Mo. Metadata: f/11; 1/800; ISO 8000; 140mm focal length

Some photographers think of feature hunting as an opportunity to run home and do their laundry. Others use it as a chance to grab a bite to eat.

Whenever the assignment pool runs dry, a good editor will boot their photogs to the curb and expect them to come…

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Does Instagram make people lazy?

A man skateboards south along a sidewalk at the University of Missouri’s Francis Quadrangle on May 25, 2015. Metadata: f/9; 1/15; ISO 20000; 50mm focal length

I haven’t touched my blog in two months and three days. The absence hasn’t been for a lack of images. Since my last post on May 22, 2015, I’ve published 42 images. They’ve all been on Instagram, though.

The simplicity is addicting. The…

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Learning how to 'Crop until it hurts'

I sat in the northeast corner of rural Nebraska in 2012 eating a shrimp salad and listening to Charles Snare, Chadron State College’s Vice President of Academic Affairs, talk about leadership.

“You know, it takes 10 years to become an expert on a topic?” he said during the conversation. I think he was right.

I’ve been editing visuals for two years and still find myself being challenged and…

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Learning in the Sooner State

Learning in the Sooner State

Two children peer over the second-floor overlook at the University of Oklahoma’s Sam Noble Museum of Natural History on March 7, 2015. The building’s construction was finished in 1999. Metadata: f/8; 1/320; ISO 1,250; 50mm focal length

I love learning. It’s what led me to the Missouri School of Journalism in 2013 and why I began applying for doctoral programs last year.

When I was a child, I…

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