Henry Lewis was born and spent his childhood in Sydney, Australia before studying art at San Francisco Art Institute in the late 1970’s. During this time, he came into contact’ as a student with notable artists such as Chris Burden who was influential in his development. Later he resided in France for an extended period; here he was captivated by the likes of Klaus Rinke and Christian Boltanski…
Lewis uses these background influences to inform his photographic works which often focus on notions of the body, optics and visual perception. Over time, a large number of visual solutions and unexpected approaches have been employed in his work ranging from auto-portraiture, through to constructed ‘mise-en-scène’ (staged photography) in his Luna Proxima series, Radiography and biological captures in his Ears, Burning and Breathing series. He has exhibited in numerous galleries and museums throughout Europe such as Galerie Baudoin Lebon in Paris, Galerie Kicken in Cologne, the Centre Santa Monica in Barcelona with Christiane Thomas under the name of Lewis Thomas and the Centre de la Vieille Charité in Marseille. Returning recently to Australia in 2019 Lewis is currently based near Sydney.
“I am interested in my place as a human being in the realm of things and how this relationship plays with the condition at large.”