Born in Wichita, raised primarily in the Seattle area, Tom Kiefer lived in Los Angeles for 20 years before moving to Ajo, Arizona to further his development as an artist and photographer and has been living there full time since 2001. In 2007, Kiefer’s first project “Journey West Exhibit”, chronicled the landscape, structures and cultural markers connecting the cities of Phoenix, Tucson and Ajo. From July 2003 to August 2014 he was employed part-time as a janitor at a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol facility near Ajo which led to his ongoing project “El Sueño Americano”; the recovered personal belongings of migrants from the trash seized and discarded by Border Patrol agents. Since being released In August 2015, “El Sueño Americano” has received recognition from LensCulture (Top 50 Emerging Photographers) and Photolucida’s Critical Mass top 50. Recent press includes the New Yorker's Photo Booth.