"My work is about the conflict between our dependence on nature and the damage we do to it through our materialism.
I take ironically beautiful photographs of complex environmental issues and then supplement them with extensive research that is gradually made accessible to the viewer. I want people to pause, think about the subject, be interested in the history behind it, and possibly question any conflicting beliefs they may have."
J Henry Fair, born in Charleston in 1959, is a US photographer and environmental activist. He lives and works in New York and Berlin.
Fair became known for his bird's-eye photographs taken during flights in small aircraft. Central themes of his work are the visualization of the elusive processes of global warming, environmental pollution and destruction, and the position that art takes in this context.
J Henry Fair's "beautiful", partly abstract "pictures" of human interventions in nature and the environment are fascinating because of the unusual perspective from which they emerge. At the same time, they challenge the viewer to take a closer look at what is shown. The works in the exhibition show, among other things, technical facilities used in the extraction of raw materials for energy production and large-scale industrial production and infrastructure landscapes.
