Justice Howard


Justice Howard is an American photographer whose work includes shooting erotica, pin-up and celebrities. Her work has appeared in over 50 hardcover books and in thousands of magazines including Vogue Paris, Esquire, Easyriders, Playboy, Cosmopolitan, People, In Touch Weekly, Skin Two, and a 25-page spread in Bound by Ink, as well as being displayed in over 60 art gallery exhibits and numerous museum shows. She has also been featured in DankLook's "On Women in Black and White Fine Art Photography." 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. Her work has been compared to that of 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 death. Howard has also shot many other musicians including Dave Navarro, Marilyn Manson, Billy Idol, Willie Nelson, Steve Jones, and Dick Dale, as well as pin-up icon and cult classic actress Mamie Van Doren, then in her 70s. The Lord Balfour Hotel in Miami, Florida, showcases 64 of her images in 30-foot wall murals, and has rugs designed from her photographs. Tattoo Bar in Washington DC, which while not owned by Howard, is filled with her art. She was rated one of the top 20 tattoo photographers in the world by Rank My Tattoos and in 2013 released a Lady Ink calendar, which has been described as the "glamour calendar with a downtown edge". She has had over 20 calendars to her credit, but Lady Ink is the first one featuring only tattooed women.
Her first camera was a Pentax Spotmatic II that was very basic, followed by a Nikon camera that Howard "fell in love with". She 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 into her work. Howard's work has been described as "more modern works of art than mere photographs", and is known internationally. Her portfolio includes over one million images, and one of her collector-owned fine art photographs was appraised 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 Mark Seliger.

Gallery and museum work

In 1995 Howard had her first one-woman gallery show in Los Angeles, "Black & White & Brutal", which presented her "fetish and kink-oriented imagery" to a receptive audience. Since then she has had over 60 art gallery exhibitions, including a downtown LA show titled "Sharp Edges" with crime writer John Gilmore, in which all the art was stuck to the walls 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 Lord Balfour Hotel in South Beach, Florida. Sixty-four of its rooms house Howard art, and the rooms have been decorated to match the colors in her photographs. 30-foot murals grace the rooms and some rooms showcase easel-based art within the master suites.

Anthology publications

Howard's Photography has been published in:
Howard once choreographed a show in Las Vegas that was awarded Best Number in Show after opening night review. She is a supporter of the charity organization Children of the Night and provides her time teaching the children photography as well as raising money through charity shows featuring her work. She works for eight fashion and lifestyle magazines both in U.S. and Europe, and she also works out of her studio in Hollywood.'