J Henry Fair is an American photographer, environmental activist, and co-founder and director of the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, NY. Born in Charleston, SC, J Henry Fair currently lives and works in New York City.
J Henry Fair’s Industrial Scars project explores the detritus of our consumer society, through large-scale aerial photo shoots and accompanying documentary research. Industrial Scars subjects range from oil drilling and coal ash waste to large-scale agricultural production and abandoned mining operations. In small airplanes, Fair circles above industrial areas and photographs with a bird's eye perspective the effects these operations have on our environment. Topics of particular interest to Fair include the global warming process, environmental pollution, and habitat destruction - all of which are illustrated in Fair's photographs.
With his photos, Fair has called attention to environmental and political problems in different regions of the world. Fair has had touring photography exhibits in the USA, Europe, and Asia. Additionally, he travels around the world, giving environmental symposia to teach audiences about consumer responsibility and environmental awareness. Fair's work has been published in The New York Times, National Geographic Magazine, Vanity Fair, TIME Magazine, New York Magazine, and was featured on The TODAY Show and NPR's Marketplace.
Fair's book, The Day After Tomorrow: Images of Our Earth in Crisis was released in February, 2011 by powerHouse Books. The Day After Tomorrow includes 80 color images from Fair's Industrial Scars project with accompanying scientific data, as well as contributed text by authors and scientists including Allen Hershkowitz, Roger Hodge, Frances Mayes, James Hansen, Jack Hitt, John Rockwell, and Tensie Whelan.
J Henry Fair is co-founder and director of the Wolf Conservation Center (WCC) of South Salem, NY. The WCC promotes wolf conservation by teaching about wolves, their relationship to the environment, and the human role in protecting their future. To accomplish its mission, WCC holds regular educational programs to discuss wolf conservation, supports wolf reintroduction in federally designated areas that can sustain viable wolf populations, and provides a natural habitat for a few captive wolves where observation of natural behavior is possible. WCC is the preeminent facility in the eastern United States for the captive breeding and pre-release of endangered wolf species.
Fair has collaborated on high-priority issues with environmental organizations such as NRDC, the Rainforest Alliance, Waterkeeper Alliance, and the Open Space Institute.