Michael Hower
Dome
Eden
Michael Hower is an abandonment and graffiti photographer from Pennsylvania. His experience with digital photography began seven years ago. Over that time, he has explored numerous abandoned places over the Mid-Atlantic. His work has been displayed widely in over a hundred and fifty exhibitions and publications, featuring in shows at the Biggs Museum of Art, DE; Pennsylvania College of Technology, PA; Pennsylvania State Museum, PA and Marshall University, WV. The artwork is not just the photograph. The process starts before the photograph and continues after it is made. It begins with historical research and ends with the telling of forgotten stories. Michael photographs history by looking for places of deep significance, like the place featured here in the series “Perspectives in Eden,” the Irem Shrine in Wilkes-Barre. The Irem Shrine, an example of Moorish revival architecture was long home to the Shriners and had been a preeminent public events space in Northeast Pennsylvania for decades. The building’s doors have been shuttered for many years, but new ownership hopes to breathe new life into this forgotten jewel. “Perspectives in Eden” focus on the expansive main events hall along with its antechambers.
