Joseph Guay

Joseph Michael Guay was born in Lewiston, Maine to Michael C. Guay and Jeanne T. Bousquet.

Guay has been Sir Elton John’s personal photographer since 2010, capturing iconic images of the star for numerous publications of Rolling Stone Magazine, Billboard Magazine, USA Today, The LA Times, The Times-UK, The Guardian-UK, The Independent- UK, Event Magazine-UK, Daily Mirror Magazine-UK, and Sun Magazine. His images have also been included in the last three albums released by Sir Elton John- "Wonderful Crazy Nights," "The Diving Board," and "The Union"- including portraits of the late Leon Russell. Sir Elton John is currently the largest collector of Guay's work, owning pieces from many stages throughout his career. Other top collectors of Guay’s work include: Evgeny Lebedev- owner of Lebedev Holdings Ltd and the Independent, Peter Koral- founder of Seven Jeans, Arthur Blank- co-founder of Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons NFL team, Ed Roland from Collective Soul, Rich Robinson from the Black Crowes, Laura Turner Seydel- founder of Captain Planet Foundation & Turner Foundation, Kendall H. Doble, lll - founder of QR Capital, Ludacris- Rap Mogul, Kevin Willis- basketball twenty year veteran, and football stars David Johnson and Jamal Anderson.

In 1999 Guay had his first solo art exhibition with Anthony Ardavin Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2001 Macon & Company Gallery and Raymond Lawrence Gallery both included his work in their group art exhibitions. That same year, Momus Gallery also included his work in a group exhibition. Elton John attended the event and began his collecting of Guay's art. Momus Gallery went on to do two solo exhibitions and three group exhibitions of Guay's work. During this time, Guay focused on black&white base-resin photographs. In 2003, Guay's art caught the eye of the famous art dealer, Fay Gold. That year, Fay included him in a group exhibition and quickly followed it up with a solo show. By 2004, Guay was firmly established and a major figure in the art scene. Fay Gold went on to do two more group exhibitions and another solo art exhibition with Guay’s work. His art began exhibiting in Miami, Palm Beach, NYC, and Santa Fe with Daniel Azoulay Gallery, Studio E Gallery, Anthem Gallery, and Seven-O-Seven Gallery. In 2006 Burj Khalifav in Dubai, UAE commissioned him to make a large base-resin photograph.

In 2008, Guay began working with Ed Roland and the band "Collective Soul". He captured iconic images, three album covers, four music videos and a documentary on the band. Roland later noted in a Billboard Magazine article: “Joseph is on the top of my list as one of the purest artists I’ve met. He has a great eye and more importantly, a great heart. He’s the real deal.” In 2010 Guay joined Elton John and Leon Russell for the studio sessions of the collaboration album, "The Union". Guay captured images for the album’s packaging as well as images that would gain publication in Rolling Stone Magazine, Billboard Magazine, USA Today, The LA Times, The Times-UK, The Guardian-UK, The Independent- UK, Event Magazine-UK, Daily Mirror Magazine-UK, and Sun Magazine. His images were also used by Swarovski Crystals, Yamaha, Apple iTunes, Starbucks, Caesars Palace, and The Ellen Degeneres Show. Guay went on to photograph images for the last three Sir Elton John albums and assisted the Sir Elton John Photography collection for seven years. During this time, Guay also photographed and filmed projects for other stars including Elliot Easton from "the Cars", Clem Burke from "Blondie", and Wally Palmer from "the Romantics.

In 2010, Jackson Fine Art hosted a solo exhibition for Guay’s new series titled “Memory Portraits”. The show was a great success. The work was included in Art Miami and Hutter Fine Art in LA. The series sold out, landing in the collection of Sir Elton John, Evgeny Lebedev and The High Museum.

In 2015, Alan Avery Art Company included his photography work in a group exhibition. Months later, Guay declined gallery representation and left the successful formula he created and ventured into a political statement with a body of art titled “Remnants of the Human Condition”. Guay states it was his first time finding his real voice as an artist, expressing political impact with his art.

“I knew I could no longer pretend the news and the global fear based reactions of our society were not becoming an overwhelming influence on me.” … Joseph Guay

The politically charged exhibition of paintings and sculptures titled "Remnants of the Human Condition" paid tribute to Trayvon Martin, Alton Sterling, Eric Garner, Pulse Nightclub, Sandy Hook Elementary, the World Trade Center, the Boston Marathon Bombings and the Dallas Police Officer Shootings. Sir Elton John purchased the main sculptures from the series, and Billboard Magazine reviewed the exhibition.

In early 2017, Guay created his largest sculpture and public art installation to date, “The Border Wall”. Constructed completely by hand using only undocumented Mexican labor workers. The structure is made from welded steel, rebar and concrete, 40 feet in length by 16 feet tall, weighing over 25,000 pounds, modeled after the proposed $20 Billion dollar wall for the US / Mexico 1954 mile border. The purpose of this installation is to create social awareness around the issues surrounding immigration in the United States.