Thomas Susemihl was born in Sao Paulo and has been interested in photography since the age of 14. He began his first experiments in black and white darkroom laboratories, taking pictures of people in action. He later spent five years studying in Germany at the Bayerische Staatslehranstalt Photografie fur Munchen school of photography.

After a few years working as a photographer for an advertising agency, Thomas decided to move back to Brazil in 1981 and has since worked for major fashion and commercial clients. He was pioneer in the implementation of digital format photography in Brazil and in recent years has focused on video research.