Born
and raised in the art driven community of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Justin
Dawson developed an interest in photography at a young age. To pursue
his talent, Justin attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio,
where he graduated in 1995 obtaining a BA in Communications with a concentration
in photography and video production. While numerous of his images were
featured in art magazines and college brochures, it was Justin’s
documentary photography in Africa that earned him an award in excellence
from The Photographer's Forum Magazine.
After briefly producing, directing and editing promotional skate and
snowboarding videos, Justin moved to Los Angeles in 1996 and began working
extensively in film and television production. Over the next 6 years,
he shot and gathered images for the “double ee” series which
was featured in a group show entitled “The Space” in 2002.
Soon after, Justin and long time friend Andy Abrams began work on “Tattoo
Jew” documenting the stigma of Jewish people with tattoos. (Visit
www.tattoojewmovie.com
for more info). The success of this project earned them an 8 page feature
article in the September 2004 issue of Skin & Ink magazine, as well
as a solo show displaying 21 images from "Tattoo Jew" at Gallery
Zel in Los Angeles.
Justin currently lives in Los Feliz, California and works as a freelance
photographer. Future projects will highlight his organic, industrial
approach to photography.