John Hathaway

John Lusk Hathaway was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1976. He received his MFA from East Tennessee State University in May 2012. Hathaway was nominated for the 2014 Baum Award and was the recipient of the Individual Artist Fellowship Grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission the same year. He is in the forthcoming group show “Southbound” at The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art. Hathaway is a lecturer of photography at The College of Charleston in South Carolina.


Ace Basin, South Carolina, 2018


Red Top, SC, 2018


Johns Island, SC, 2018

Controlled Burn

“In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows.” – Emerson

A controlled burn is an intentional fire set for the purpose of maintaining a forest’s natural equilibrium. One of the main goals of a prescribed burn is to reduce the risk of a potentially disastrous accidental or naturally occurring wildfire. I am interested in applying this idea as a metaphor to human existence as well. I believe that we as humans apply this concept both consciously and unconsciously throughout our lives. We continually subject ourselves to small traumas that insulate and protect us from what we perceive as far greater catastrophes.

Through medium and large format photographs in and around the ACE Basin in South Carolina, one of the largest undeveloped estuaries on the Atlantic seaboard, I am investigating how lives are poetically, if not desperately, seeking equilibrium within the modern world. Genres of landscape, portraiture and still life and called upon to lyrically navigate the delicate space that we as humans carve out for ourselves in an attempt to cope with a life that ends.


Target, Charleston, SC, 2018


West Ashley, SC, 2018


Edisto, SC, 2018


Spraying for mosquitoes, Johns Island, SC, 2018


Ravenel, SC, 2017


The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need, Botany Bay, SC, 2018


St. Helena Island, SC, 2017


Martins Landing, SC, 2018


Adams Run, SC, 2018


Botany Bay, SC, 2018


Green Pond, SC, 2018


West Ashley, SC, 2018


West Ashley, SC, 2017


Kiawah Island, SC, 2017


Bear Island, SC, 2018


Green Pond, SC, 2018


West Ashley, SC, 2018

To view more of John Hathaway’s work please visit his website.