Howie Garber

HOWIE GARBER is a professional fine arts and nature photographer. Howie’s interest in photography dates back to 1969 when he took a “History of Photography” class while at the University of Rochester. In 1989 he traveled to Nepal, his first trip outside North America, and shot 40 rolls of film while trekking for a month. While traveling in South America during 1990, his wanderlust was rewarded with an incredible stroke of luck. A day before his 40th birthday, he was picked up while hitch-hiking by a Brazilian biologist who was doing jaguar research. Experiencing the wonder of observing wildlife in natural habitats was an incentive to improve his photography skills and start a second profession. Since then he has traveled and photographed in places like China, Bhutan, Patagonia, Peru, Antarctica, Brazil, Kenya, England, Alaska, Australia and recently to South Georgia Island.

Howie’s images have been widely published as book and magazine covers. Some of his clients have included Newsweek, National Geographic, Patagonia, and National Audubon Society. In 1997, Howie won the Wild Places (Landscape) category of the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest. That same year, his photo of two mountain goats won the Endangered Places photo contest sponsored by Outdoor Photographer Magazine, Mamiya and Lowepro. During the summer of 2000, his work was featured in Nikon World. His Fine Art has been exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum and the Museum of Natural History in London.

From 1983- 2018, Garber worked as an emergency physician at hospitals all over Western U.S. and Alaska. He felt that there were similarities in his two professions. Every day as an outdoor photographer is different and full of surprises. Success depends on multiple factors-weather, planning, animal behavior and luck. He often returns to the same location and waits for the right light. In the hospital and in the field, there are many factors are out of your control. In the same way that providing good health care is a team approach, his success as a photographer has been dependent on wildlife biologists, pilots, athletes and other photographers willing to share their knowledge. Howie states that “One of the challenges that remain is how to use his photography as a tool for conservation. Artistically capturing pure beauty seems hedonistic and socially irresponsible at times.”

His first book Utah’s Wasatch Range: Four Season Refuge won a Ben Franklin Silver Medal in the 2014 competition of Independent Book Publishers. In this book his photography complements essays by 22 Utah writers, scientists, and elected officials. His second book Adventures in Fine Art Photography won Grand prize in the Foreground Contest as the best Fine Art and Photography Book of 2015. Howie enjoys teaching photography and is available for slide shows, workshops, and one on one instruction.