Tom Bessoir was born and raised in the Astoria section of Queens in New York City in 1957. From there he commuted by subway to attended The Bronx High School of Science. Tom studied mathematics and electrical engineering at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. While attending the Engineering School, he took advantage of Art School classes, focusing on film theory and studying experimental filmmaking with Robert Breer. In the late 1970s, he started photographing the downtown music scene. His photographs have appeared on dozens of records as well as in films, books, magazines, and newspapers.
Tom’s experimental films often use mathematics and randomness to explore perception and the structure of cinema. To date he has made 16 experimental films. They have been shown around the world in festivals, galleries, and museums.
In the arts, Tom Bessoir is best known for Microfilm (1979), Digits of Pi (2019), and his photography documenting downtown NYC.
In addition to being an accomplished experimental filmmaker and photographer, he has published research papers on chaos theory, on the safety of railroad signaling systems that use microprocessor technology, and on the mathematics of Scrabble.
Tom presently lives and works in NYC.