Artist Statement
I am a conservation photographer, yet I rarely make photographs of nature. Instead, I concentrate on the people who live with and rely on the resources we are working to protect. The goal of my photography is to share the human narratives in these diverse projects in a way that will help illustrate the universal importance of social and humanitarian considerations in international environmental conservation work. Captions (which are not included in this system) containing the subject’s backstories are essential in these images’ presentation. Process Statement
I am an assignment photographer working primarily for editorial and NGO clients. My work is cause-driven and I concentrate on the intersections between social and environmental issues.

 

 

Jason Houston has worked in visual communication for over 20 years, much of the time as an independent photographer / filmmaker doing magazine stories, books, and NGO image library assignments as well as related long-term personal projects on social and environmental issues. Recent subjects include deforestation in Borneo, watershed conservation in the Peruvian Amazon, fisheries management throughout the developing tropics, and agricultural heritage on the Navajo reservation in Arizona. His work has appeared in large market outlets such as The New York Times Magazine, Smithsonian, Photo District News, Discover, Business Week, The Nature Conservancy, Audubon, and the United Nations, as well as boutique outlets like Gastronomica, Orion, Day Light, The Drake, and Bike Magazine. He has photographed several books, including Reclaiming Our Food: How the grassroots food movement is changing the way we eat (Storey Publishing, 2011), which documented community-based food programs across the country and was named one of the "Top 10 Books on the Environment" in 2012 by the American Library Association.

Jason is a fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) and has exhibited widely and lectured often on his work at venues including Mountainfilm, San Francisco Art Institute, Harvard, Yale, Duke, Williams College, The New Mexico Museum of Art, Colorado Photographic Arts Center, Fovea, and the Nevada Museum of Art. He also teaches photography and documentary workshops privately and for various organizations including the Wild & Scenic Film Festival in California and this summer at the prestigious Anderson Ranch in Snowmass, Colorado. From 2004-2012 he was photo editor for Orion magazine and in April 2013 he co-chaired and presented at the 2nd annual “Collaborations for Cause” conference in Portland, Oregon. Jason is currently the first national board member for Blue Earth (a non-profit fiscal sponsor for independent documentary projects) where he has served as an advisor since 2008.

 

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