As a photojournalist, he has been involved with assisting and documenting the disability rights movement since 1985. He first became interested in disability rights when he worked as an orderly at a rehabilitation hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the age of 19. He got his start as a photographer after originally working at a video production company while in college at Berkeley, and he started to take photography classes at a community college. He also became an attendant for people with disabilities in the San Francisco area, so his first photography subjects were people with disabilities. He photographed the founders of ADAPT at a national action event in Los Angeles in 1985, which led to his interest in being a social documentarian for the disability rights movement.

Today, Tom is working on a number of projects. His passion is enlightening and empowering the next generation: keeping the Disability Rights Movement and story alive for the young people now living better lives because of the efforts and people who went before.

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