Justice Howard

Justice Howard (born July 25, 1960 in San Francisco, California) is an American photographer best known for her work shooting Erotica, Pin-up and Celebrities. She really is an "artist-without-adjective" whose work has appeared in over 50 hardcover books and in thousands of magazines internationally including French Vogue (magazine), Esquire (magazine), Easyriders, Playboy, Cosmopolitan (magazine), People Magazine, In Touch Weekly, Skin Two, and a 25-page spread in Bound By Ink Magazine, as well as being displayed in multiple art gallery showings and museums. She has also been featured in DANKLOOK's 'On Women in Black and White Fine Art Photography' alongside Irving Penn and Helmut Newton and is currently the favorite artist on the site. Her photography features themes of female empowerment, freedom, and inner strength. She was previously a model before ‘graduating to photography’ and training under a master German photographer who had previously photographed Marilyn Monroe. Her work has been compared to Annie Leibovitz and Herb Ritts.

Photography

Howard is credited as the last photographer to capture living photographs of country musician Waylon Jennings before his death in 2002. The photoshoot was arranged by ex-Hells Angels President Sonny Barger, a mutual friend of both Howard and Jennings and took place just before a performance by the singer at the New Orleans Casino in Las Vegas about four months prior to his passing. Howard has also shot many other notable musicians including Dave Navarro, Marilyn Manson, Billy Idol, Willie Nelson, Steve Jones (musician) and Dick Dale as well as pin up icon and cult classic actress Mamie Van Doren then in her 70’s. She has her own ‘Art Bar’ called ‘Tattoo Bar’ in Washington DC, which while not owned by Howard, is filled with her art, a privilege she claims to share only with the artist Hr geiger. She was rated one of the top 20 Tattoo Photographers in the world by Rank My Tattoo Magazine and in 2011 released a calendar'Lady Ink (2012)' which has been described as the 'glamour calendar with a downtown edge.' She has had over 12 calendars to her credit, but Lady Ink is the first one featuring only tattooed women and Lady Ink 2013 will follow. Her first camera was a Pentax Spotmatic II that was very basic, followed by a Nikon camera which Howard 'fell in love with'. She originally started out as primarily a fetish photographer at a time when fetish photography was not yet well-known, before moving on to incorporate other styles of photography into her work. Justice Howard's work has been described as 'more modern works of art than mere photographs' by Bound By Ink Magazine, and is known internationally in over 25 countries Her portfolio includes over 500,000 images and one of her collector owned photographs was appraised for insurance purposes at $40,000.

Influences

Howard cites Helmut Newton as a major influence of her work, a statement she has made in multiple interviews, she has also been called the 'female Helmut Newton'. Additionally, she is influenced by the work of Robert Mapplethorpe and also Mark Seliger, a photographer who has shot for Rolling Stone Magazine, People Magazine and Us Magazine and various celebrities, including a set of Rob Zombie with a pig's head.

Gallery and Museum Work

In 1995 Howard had her first one-woman gallery show in Los Angeles; 'Black & Wild & Brutal' which presented her 'fetish and kink-oriented imagery' to a receptive audience. Since then she has had over 25 art gallery exhibitions, including a downtown LA show titled 'Sharp Edges' with crime writer John Gilmore (writer) where all the art was stuck to the wall with custom knives An exhibition of her work titled 'Alice in Thunderland' opened in early 2011 at the World Erotic Art Museum in Florida marking a graduation of Howard's work from art galleries to museums. Her work is also featured on the walls of the newly renovated Lord Balfour Hotel in South Beach, Florida. 64 of its rooms will house Justice Howard art and the rooms have been decorated to match the colors in her photographs. 30 foot wall size murals grace the rooms and some rooms will showcase easel based art and will be debuting in Winter 2012. Elle Magazine lists the Lord Balfour as one of the 'Five Hottest Hotels' to open in 2012.

Anthology Publications

Howard's Photography has been published in over 30 hardcover books and anthologies including the following:

(2016) "INAMORATA" - The Photography of Justice Howard (Foreword by Mamie Van Doren, John Gilmore & Sybil Danning) 300 page monograph hardcover published by Schiffer Publications ISBN 978-0-7643-5224-9
(2014) "REVELATIONS" - The Photography of Justice Howard (Foreword by Sonny Barger & Freddy Negrete) 300 page monograph hardcover published by Schiffer Publications ISBN 9780764347986
(2016) "MY PENPAL THE SERIAL KILLER" Ebook available on Amazon Kindle
(2013) "TATTOO ART" - Flametree Press 35,000 words 192 Pages ISBN 978-0-85-775603-9
(2010) Star Guitars - Dave Hunter (Foreword by Billy F Gibbons). Voyageur Press. ISBN 0-7603-3821-3
(2001) Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club - Sonny Barger (with Keith and Kent Zimmerman). Harper Paperbacks. ISBN 978-0-06-093754-6
(2002) Sex: Take a Walk on the Wild Side: Masterpieces of Erotic Fantasy Photography - Tony Mitchell. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 978-1-56025-363-1
(2002) Blonde: Masterpieces of Photography - Michelle Olley. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 978-1-56025-417-1
(2006) Van Gogh's Ear: The Celebrity Edition - Ian Ayres. Gazelle Distribution Trade. ISBN 978-2-914853-07-1
(1997) Fetish Photo Anthology Volume 2 - Jurgen Boedt. SECRET MAGAZINE. ASIN B001DJ84KU
(2000) Fetish Photo Anthology Volume 3 - Jurgen Boedt. Glitter. ASIN B003VKRMQQ
(2000) Extreme: Photo Anthology of Extreme Lifestyles - Jurgen Boedt. Glitter. ASIN B00106XH44
(2001) Julie Strain's Greatest Hits - Julie Strain. Heavy Metal Magazine. ISBN 978-1-882931-71-2

Personal life

Howard is friends with actress Sybil Danning and as of September 2011, is helping with a Comicon-styled event named Comikaze Expo, Stan Lee, Morgan Fairchild and Sybil Danning. Howard once choreographed a show in Las Vegas that was awarded 'Best Number in Show' after opening night review. She is an avid supporter of the charity organization Children of the Night and provides her time teaching the children photography as well as raising money for the charity through charity shows featuring her work. She works for 8 fashion and lifestyle magazines both in U.S. and Europe, and she also works out of her studio in Hollywood