John Stember (b. 1993) is a photographer shaped by a decade of movement across the western US. Drawn to big country, he’s bicycled across a large chunk of North America twice and worked as a dog musher in the Arctic.

Instead of leaving for the metropolises of New York City, San Francisco or Los Angeles, John decided to stay connected to the American West, its people and places, and pursue a master’s degree in environmental journalism at the University of Montana with a focus on grizzly bears.

His photographic process is informed by knocking on doors, sleeping in churches, dropping into community fish fries, and traveling through towns without a stop light. He’s deeply curious about people’s lives, especially off the beaten track. Within his images, he looks for intimacy and tension, historical significance, serendipity and moments of human emotion.

He recently worked on a historical photography archive documenting how rural America is changing—in a tradition similar to the Farm Security Administration—at Boyd’s Station called Project 306.36. He photographed H2-A agricultural workers, the complexities of farming in America today, GLP-1 weight loss drugs, law enforcement, and the LGBTQ+ community in small town America.

He’s worked with a variety of publications, including the New York Times and Montana Free Press. He has a commercial drone license, HEAT training for journalists and EMT license.

He’s available for commercial work and editorial assignments around the West. He can be reached at jstember1@gmail

Photo by Walker McDonald

AWARDS, GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS

EDUCATION

  • Projected to graduate with Master’s in Environmental Science and Natural Resource Journalism from University of Montana in May 2025

TRAINING, LICENSES

email: jstember1@gmail | cell: 971.67eight.3173 | © all rights reserved on all images.