I had the honor of capturing photos of Dominique Thomas, an Atlanta jazz musician from the midwest last week. We shot some South City St. Louis portraits to represent Dom’s background of growing up in St. Louis. We lucked out with a beautiful early March morning; no rain, full sun, and warmer weather signifying spring days ahead. We adventured through some of Dom’s favorite St. Louis neighborhoods: Compton Heights, Tower Grove, Benton Park, and Cherokee Street.

Dom and I go way back to our college days. Both of us were in the theatre and dance department at Southeast Missouri State University and overlapped a couple of years. While I was never in any musical theatre productions, I watch all the college productions and saw Dom live out his musical theatre dreams! Post-college, Dominique lived in various cities, Chicago, Los Angeles, and now Atlanta, finding his voice as a jazz musician. It’s been such a cool experience witnessing him excel in the music industry.

While Dominique lives in Atlanta now with his fiancé (!), he came home to St. Louis to pay a visit to his family and catch up with some friends. He contacted me about doing a photo session to promote his new album, releasing later this year!

Dom was very intentional about where he wanted his portrait session to take place. He told me during our planning process all about his memories and landmark moments in his life that occurred all around these St. Louis south city neighborhoods. I was sure to scout out locations in these neighborhoods that would best tell Dominique’s story and to share his love for the city in these special places.

Throughout our session, Dominique shared stories from his childhood, his family, and the moments that he holds dear about these neighborhoods in St. Louis. I was also blown away by the knowledge that Dom has about jazz music. To be honest, I can’t say that I was surprised. I bring along my speaker and a curated playlist to my each of my client's favorite music so they can feel more comfortable with a camera on them. I’m not joking when I say that nearly every song that came on, Dom had some piece or trivia about the artist, the album, or the song. I walked away from this session with new awareness of some music! Some of Dom’s favorite artists and inspirations are Fat Night, John Legend, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Jay-Z, and Jimi Hendrix to name a few.

Be sure to check out Dominique’s website and find him on Spotify as Dom L’Amour. Follow along on his Instagram to stay tuned for his album dropping later this year!