Our consumption-based economy is wreaking havoc on the systems that sustain our life on Earth. I seek out the manifestations of this and create pictures. My goal is to produce beautiful images that stimulate an aesthetic response, and thus curiosity in the viewer about the causes, and hopefully her personal involvement. If the pictures are not beautiful, the viewer will not stop to consider them, or cherish them.
The impacted landscapes that I want to see are usually hidden, so hiring a plane and flying over these sites is the only way to see things; the aerial perspective is inherently intriguing to land-based animals.
Ultimately, I want behavioral change. Every purchase decision should be made with the next generation in mind. Government will not protect or respond to us, but corporations will respond to our direction. If we buy toilet paper made from post-consumer material, forests are saved (and all of the animals at home there, not to mention all of the carbon it sequesters). It’s that simple.
In spite of the political nature of my work, I consider myself first and foremost an artist, someone who works in a given medium to convey a certain message, and hopefully entertains in the process.
Awards J Henry Fair, photographer
Exhibitions (selected)
2014 The Hand of Man Gerald Peters Gallery New York, NY
2014 Abstraction of Consumption Galerie Wesner Konstanz, Germany
2014 Abstraction of Consumption Bunsen Goetz Galerie Nuremberg, Germany
2014 Toter Erde Schöner Schein Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Frankfurt, Germany
2014 Toter Erde Schöner Schein Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Germany
2014 Extraction and the American Dream Silvermine Arts Center New Canaan, CT
2013 5x5: Real/Unreal One Art Space New York, NY (group)
2013 Industrial Scars X on Main Beacon, NY
2013 People's Choice Gibbes Museum of Art Charleston, SC (group)
2013 Where are We (going)? Silvermine Arts Center New Canaan, CT (group)
2013 Toter Erde Schöner Schein d.a.i. Tübingen Tübingen, Germany
2013 Extraction and the American Dream McCabe Library at Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA
2012 5x5: Real/Unreal Museo De Arte Acarigua-Araure Portugesa, Venezuela (group)
2012 Industrial Scars Stavanger Festival Stavanger, Norway
2012 Industrial Scars The Jimmy Carter Library Atlanta, GA
2012 Looking Back at Earth The Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College Hanover, NH (group)
2012 Industrial Scars SFO Museum San Francisco, CA
2011 Industrial Scars Flo Peters Gallery Hamburg, Germany
2011 Industrial Scars IDEASpace at Colorado College Colorado Springs, CO
2011 Abstraction of Destruction Gerald Peters Gallery New York, NY
2011 Hydraulic Fracturing and New York's Water Supply Museum of the City of New York New York, NY
2011 Abstraction of Destruction Eduard Planting Fine Art Photographs Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2011 Landscapes of Extraction Cooper Union New York, NY
2011 Toter Erde Schöner Schein Kunsthalle Nürnberg Nürnberg, Germany
Residencies (selected)
2013 Keene State and Antioch University Cooperative Artist-in-Residency Keene, NH
2013 TEDx Conference Defining the Future Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC
2013 Swarthmore College Artist-in-Residency Swarthmore, PA
2012 The Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College Art and Activism Hanover, NH
2012 Projekt Senckenberg Exhibit Nature/Explain Science Frankfurt, Germany
2012 Weimar Staatskapelle Das Lied von der Erde (Heute) Weimar, Germany
2011 TEDx Conference High Energy Berlin, Germany
Books
2011 Fair, J Henry; The Day After Tomorrow: Images of our Earth in Crisis; powerHouse Books
Press (selected)
12/2013 GAIA Journal Cover, “An Artful, Environmental Impact Statement”
10/2013 Whole Terrain Journal Cover, “Heresy”
07/2013 Scientific American “Oil Sands May Irrevocably Tar the Climate”
03/2013 Oxford American “Ravaging Beauty, Photographs of the Texas Coast”
02/2013 Natur Magazin “Geschundene Erde”
04/2012 WIRED UK “The Blue Planet's New Toxic Colours”
03/2012 Rolling Stone “The Big Fracking Bubble: The Scam Behind The Gas Boom”
10/2011 The Telegraph “Industrial Scars: Aerial Photographs of Pollution by J Henry Fair”
09/2011 Lapham's Quarterly “Apocalypse Now”
08/2011 Die Zeit “Industrienarben”
07/2011 The Atlantic “Industrial Scars: The Art of Environmental Pollution”
06/2011 ABCNews.com “The Day After Tomorrow”
05/2011 Esquire Russia Photo Studio
04/2011 ARTnews Exhibit review by Doug McClemont
03/2011 National Geographic “Enter the Anthropocene: Age of Man”
01/2011 The New York Times “An Artful Environmental Impact Statement” – Exhibit review by Roberta Smith
01/2011 Vanity Fair Hot Type
01/2011 Smithsonian Magazine “Devastating Beauty”
01/2011 The Guardian “J Henry Fair: Abstraction of Destruction – in pictures”
12/2010 MUSEUM Magazine Cover, “Open Wounds”
11/2010 ORION Magazine “The Gulf Between Us”
08/2010 Süddeutsche Zeitung “Im Himmel über dem Abgrund”
03/2010 GQ “Dirty Pretty Things”
12/2009 Discover Magazine “Phosphorus Fields”
08/2009 TIME Magazine “The Real Cost of Cheap Food”
06/2009 New York Magazine Critic’s Pick – Exhibit review by Jerry Saltz
04/2009 TODAY Show Industrial Scars – Feature and interview with Anne Thompson
07/2008 The Boston Globe “Earth in the Balance” – Exhibit review by Sebastian Smee
10/2007 CNN Live Interview/Article by Porter Anderson
03/2007 National Geographic Visions of Earth
Awards/Grants/Honors
2013 New York Photo Awards Finalist in Single Image Documentary Photography New York Photo Festival New York, NY
2012 Earth Through A Lens First Prize in Photography for “The Last Stand” Museum of Photographic Arts San Diego, CA
2011 Silvermine Guild of Artists Distinguished member from 2011 to present Silvermine Arts Center New Canaan, CT
Permanent Collections
The Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College Hanover, NH
Gibbes Museum of Art Charleston, SC
Cooper Union New York, NY
NRDC Headquarters New York, NY
Rainforest Alliance Headquarters New York, NY
Gallery Representation
Gerald Peters Gallery New York, NY
Galerie Wesner Konstanz, Germany
Eduard Planting Fine Art Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Art + Interiors Westport, CT
