[2] Tonks was born in Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands.
He studied design then worked as a local newspaper photographer.
Later he earned an MA in Photojournalism & Documentary Photography from London College of Communication.
[1][3][4] Tonks' first book Empire (2014) is about four small far-flung territories that remain under British rule: Tristan da Cunha, Ascension Island, Saint Helena, and the Falkland Islands.
Sean O'Hagan, reviewing the book in The Observer, wrote that "Tonk mixes portraiture and documentary to show how important post-colonial tradition is to the survival of these communities and how their adherence to a kind of old-fashioned Britishness can make them seem culturally as well as geographically isolated in our increasingly globalised world."