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BIOGRAPHY
A graduate of Brooks Institute, J. Fredric May received his Bachelor of Science in Commercial Photographic Science with a Minor in Color Technology and was later accepted into the prestigious Eddie Adams Workshop ll in 1989.
He has been a documentarian and commercial photographer traveling all over the world, telling visual stories with a signature style of bold color and confrontational composition. He won numerous state and regional honors.
As a documentarian, May shot and directed more than 50 corporate and industrial films and helped raise more than 7 million dollars for nonprofit organizations. He has won Telly and Cine Awards for his creative film work and national awards for his corporate and nonprofit clients.
During open-heart surgery in 2012, he suffered a major stroke leaving him legally blind and subject to vivid visual hallucinations. This life event changed his artistic vision, opening up an entirely new visual style. The result is his current project, Apparitions : Postcards From Eye See You.
CURRICULUM VITAE
J. FREDRIC MAY b.1959 UNITED STATES
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 - Bailey Contemporary Arts Center Pompano Beach FL
2021 - University of Arizona School of Medicine Phoenix AZ
2018 - Harn Museum of Art - University of Florida, Gainesville FL
2018 - California Center for Digital Arts, Santa Ana, CA
2018 - Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR
2017 - Gray Matters - Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA
SHARED EXIHIBITIONS
2018 - Compromised Perception -Shared gallery with Artist Jane Szabo USC | Keck School of Medicine, CA
2018 - Month of Photography Los Angeles - Shared Host Gallery with Artist Gerda Stude, Santa Monica CA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 - LensCulture Art Photography Award Show,Top 25 Finalists
2022 - Artist’s Vision 2022, Marin Society of Artists, Marin, CA
2022 - Human Faces & Figures, Las Laguna Art Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
2021 - Best of Art and Medicine 2016-2021 USC | Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
2021 - Elena Diane Curris Juried Photomedia Exhibition, Murray, KY
2021 - FAVA Juried Biennial Photography Show, Oberlin, OH
2021 - Traveling Exhibition, American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis, MN
2021 - Alternative Facts: Photography by Any Means, PACE Center for the Arts, Parker, CO
2021 - 6th Annual National Juried Photography Show, Sheridan, WY
2021 - 26th Arts North International, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hopkins, MN
2020 - The Next Big Thing 2020, Studio Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA
2020 - Maria V. Howard Arts Center’s 63rd National Juried Art Show, Rocky Mount, NC
2020 - PhotoSpiva 2020, Spiva Center for the Arts, Joplin, Missouri
2020 - 33rd Annual McNeese Works on Paper Exhibition, McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA
2020 - The Art of Hope, Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi
2019 - The Patient-Artist Experience, Misericordia University, Dallas, Pennsylvania
2019 - Photography at the Emerald: 4th Annual Autumn Exhibition, Emerald Art Center, Springfield, Oregon
2019 - 28th Annual ISEA International Art Exhibition, LowellArts, Lowell, Michigan
2019 - National Juried Exhibition at Larkin Arts, Larkin Arts, Harrisonburg, Virginia
2019 - 64 Arts National Juried Exhibition, Buchanan Center for the Arts, Monmouth, Illinois
2019 - Camera USA, National Photography Exhibition, Naples Art Association, Naples, FL
2019 - PHOTOWORK, 32nd Annual National Juried Photography Exhibition, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
2019 - The Contemporary Portrait: A National Juried Exhibition, Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts, Lubbock, TX
2018 - Brand 46 Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper, Glendale, CA
2018 - Constellations: A Survey of New Photography, Kaaterskill Fine Arts Gallery, Hunter, NY
2018 - Critical Mass Top 50: A Contemporary Reference of the Human Condition, Edition One Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M.
2018 - Critical Mass Top 50: Cortona on the Move, Evening Projection, Cortona, Italy
2018 - Lucie Foundation’s MOPLA: Construction: A Group Show About Memory & Fabrication, Arena 1 Gallery, CA
2018 - FOCUS photo l.a., Los Angeles, CA
2018 - LensCulture Emerging Talent Group Show, Klompching Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2017 - Third Annual The Creative Portrait, Los Angeles Center of Photography, Los Angeles, CA
2017 - Fresh 2017 Summer Show, Klompching Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2016 - Second Annual Group Show, Davis Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY
PANELS | TALKS
2020 - Healing Apparitions: Effects of Art & Stroke, Phoenix, AZ
2018 - Healing Apparitions: A Conversation for Medical Professionals on Effects of Art and Stroke, Gainesville, FL
2018 - Creative Apparitions: The Creative Mind Through Stroke, Gainesville, FL
2018 - California Center for the Digital Arts, Santa Ana, CA
2018 - Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR
2018 - OPEN SHOW LA #45, Los Angeles, CA
2018 - Compromised Perception - USC Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
2017 - Seeing & the Visual Voice: Intersections of Neuroscience and Photography, Belmont, MA
CRITICISM | REVIEWS | PRESS
2022 - Whitefish Review - J. Fredric May
2019 - Lenscratch - ART + SCIENCE - Art of Healing: J. Fredric May
2019 - British Journal of Psychiatry - January Cover
2018 - Catalyst Interviews - J. Fredric May
2018 - Gainesville Sun "Hallucinations Influence Artist's Creativity"
2018 - AAP Magazine - Faces : J. Fredric May
2018 - Kinston Daily Free Press “J. Fredric May Turns Injury Into Opportunity”
2018 - Desert Star Weekly “A New Vision Takes Shape”
2018 - Art & Cake “Compromised Perception: A New Way of Seeing at Hoyt Gallery”
2018 - L.A. Diversions “Seeing Things”
2017 - The Boston Globe “Six Photographers Examine Identity...”
2017 - Foto Relevance “Image Roots & Visual Stories”
HONORS
2022 - LensCulture Art Photography Award ,Top 25 Finalists
2021 - Tokyo International Foto Awards - 2nd Place/Gold - Fine Art Portfolio
2020 - ND Awards - Honorable Mention - Fine Art, Conceptual
2020 - Prix De La Photographie De Paris - Honorable Mention - Fine Art Photography
2020 - The Next Big Thing - Studio Channel Islands - Second Place
2020 - PhotoSpiva 2020- Merit Award
2020 - Moscow International Foto Awards - Silver Medal - Fine Art Portfolio
2019 - Photography at the Emerald - Honorable Mention
2019 - 28th Annual ISEA International Art Exhibition - Second Place
2019 - Camera USA, National Photography Exhibition, Honorable Mention
2018 - International Photography Awards - Fine Art Portrait - Honorable Mention
2018 - Brand Library & Art Center - Brand 46 National Juried Exhibition - Jane Friend Award
2018 - All-About Photo - Faces - Merit Award
2018 - FOCUS Photo L.A.. Grand Prize Winner
2017 - LensCulture Emerging Talent Top 50 and Juror Award by Debra Klompching
2017 - Critical Mass - Awarded Top 50 and Jury Award Solo Show Winner
INDUSTRIAL FILM
Penny Jar Pictures LLC - Co-Founder 1999-Present
Getty Contributor - 1999-Present
PHOTOJOURNALIST STAFF
Santa Barbara News Press 1998-2001
Santa Maria Times - 1991-1998
The SLO Telegram Tribune - SLO - 1988-1990
PHOTOJOURNALIST FREELANCE
Santa Barbara News Press
The Telegram Tribune
Tucson Citizen
Associated Press
USA Today
The Oregonian
Los Angeles Times
New York Times
Time Magazine
The Ventura Star
Palm Springs Life
National Enquirer
Contra Costa Times
San Francisco Chronicle
San Jose Mercury News
EDUCATION
Brooks Institute - Bachelor of Science Degree / Commercial Photographic Science / Color Technology Minor
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