Duet

Digital Photograph/Archival print

12"x19" framed

2023

ARTIST BIO

Michael Hower is a photographer and installation artist based in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area. His formal artistic education began in high school with coursework at Lebanon Valley College and the Pennsylvania School of Art and Design, followed by studies at Harrisburg Area Community College and the Maryland Institute College of Art, where he focused on painting, design, and ceramics. After first working with a digital camera thirteen years ago, Hower became self-taught in photography, rediscovering a sustained commitment to art through the medium.

His work examines historical and social themes through human-made structures in altered environments now devoid of human activity. He is particularly drawn to sites of abandonment, including industrial facilities, prisons, and graffiti-covered spaces. Through photography and installation, his work addresses wear, deterioration, and nature's reclamation of built environments, approaching these sites as carriers of collective memory and lived experience.

Hower's work has been featured in over two hundred exhibitions and publications. He is a two-time award winner at the Pennsylvania State Museum and has exhibited at institutions including the Biggs Museum of Art, Masur Museum of Art, Marshall University, the Banana Factory, and the Maryland State House of Representatives. His publication credits include Pennsylvania Magazine, Central PA Magazine, The Santa Clara Review, Penn Review of the University of Pennsylvania, and Essential Voices: A COVID-19 Anthology. His solo exhibition Graffiti Scapes at Penn College in Williamsport featured nearly fifty photographs and installations.

[email protected]

www.michaelhowerphotography.com

@michaelhowerphotography