J Henry Fair

J Henry Fair is an American photographer, environmental activist, and co-founder of the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, he currently lives and works in New York City. A self-described provacateur, he has occasionally lost his temper at charitable events.

Through large-scale aerial photo shoots and accompanying documentary research, Fair’s Industrial Scars project explores the detritus of our consumer society. Industrial Scars subjects range from oil drilling and coal ash waste to large-scale agricultural production and abandoned mining operations. In small airplanes, he circles above industrial areas and photographs with a bird's eye perspective the effects these operations have on our environment. Topics of particular interest 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 and magazines National Geographic, Vanity Fair, TIME, and New York and featured on the programs Today and Marketplace, television and radio, respectively.

Fair's book, The Day After Tomorrow: Images of Our Earth in Crisis (2011), contains 80 color images from his Industrial Scars project with accompanying scientific data—as well as contributions by writers Roger Hodge, Frances Mayes, Jack Hitt, and John Rockwell; scientists Allen Hershkowitz and James Hansen; and Rainforest Alliance President 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.