Today we’d like to introduce you to Xavier Thomas.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m Xavier “Art” Thomas, an editorial and portrait photographer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I picked up my first real camera in 2010, but honestly it started way earlier — I was the kid obsessed with disposable cameras, the ones you’d drop off at Walmart to get developed. When digital cameras got big I thought they were the coolest thing, and then smartphones came along and I was that guy on an Android stopping to shoot any scenery that caught my eye. Once I had a little money and my friends started making music, I saw what Wiz Khalifa and Dan Folger were doing visually, and I wanted to make my friends look like stars too. That’s really where ArtLikeUs was born — photography for people who don’t do ordinary. I’ve spent my life moving between cities — Uniontown, Los Angeles, New York, back to Pittsburgh — and every place shaped how I see people. Today I shoot concerts, nightlife, portraits, and commercial work, and I’m travel-ready: Uber, trains, buses, planes — however I need to get there, I’ll be there.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a smooth road. I come from Fayette County — one of the poorest counties in Pennsylvania — and growing up with nothing is what made me. That hunger carried me through everything after: a 2019 car accident that snapped my right femur and had me learning to walk again, over a decade without a driver’s license while I built my career on Ubers, trains, and buses, stretches where I didn’t know where I’d sleep, years of hiding my smile until Smile LA gave it back to me in 2025, losing my best friend, going through a divorce. None of it broke me — coming from where I come from, I was built for hard chapters.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I run ArtLikeUs — editorial and portrait photography, based in Pittsburgh and travel-ready. I specialize in direct, punchy portraiture with clean, honest color: making people look and feel like the best version of themselves. I’ve worked with Fabolous for over a decade now, and my concert and nightlife work also includes Jay Z, Kanye West, Sexyy Red, and A Boogie, among others. My portraits feel confident and real, never overproduced. What sets me apart: I’m not chasing volume. I’m intentionally going bespoke — limiting the time and energy I spend on shooting so I can put it into producing the best teaching materials and helping other photographers level up. When a client books me, they get my full devotion. What I’m most proud of: building a name that stands on the work itself, without any gimmicks, and now the path to becoming a teaching presence — not just taking great photos, but showing others how to.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I’m genuinely excited about it — especially AI and what it adds to the technology. For a solo artist who doesn’t have a team, that’s a game changer: you can concept, shoot, edit, and deliver at a level that used to take five people. I think the next 5–10 years belong to independents who learn the tools instead of fearing them. The photographers with a distinct eye and a real brand are going to win — because AI can generate an image, but it can’t generate your taste, your relationships, or the trust a client puts in you.
Pricing:
- Pricing is based on a lot of factors — project-based, available upon inquiry.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artlikeus
Image Credits
All photos by Xavier “Art” Thomas / ArtLikeUs
