# Jet Lowe

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**John T. "Jet" Lowe** is an American [photographer](/source/Photography). He is one of the photographers employed by the U.S. [National Park Service](/source/National_Park_Service) on the [Historic American Buildings Survey](/source/Historic_American_Buildings_Survey) (HABS) and [Historic American Engineering Record](/source/Historic_American_Engineering_Record) (HAER) projects, and was the supervisor of engineering photography for HAER until his retirement in July 2013. His book, *Industrial Eye: Photographs by Jet Lowe from the Historic American Engineering Record* was published in 1986 by the Preservation Press.

## Early life and education

John T. Lowe III was born in 1946. His father, a U.S. Navy aviator, called him "Jet." While at [New College of Florida](/source/New_College_of_Florida), Lowe went to Haiti for an independent study program, taking a camera with him at the last minute. He shot 20 rolls of film in the region of [Cap-Haïtien](/source/Cap-Ha%C3%AFtien). The resulting pictures were well received by his professors. In 1970 Lowe graduated from [Emory University](/source/Emory_University) with a degree in art history, and started working for the Georgia Historical Commission, doing HABS documentation. After changing jobs, his equipment was stolen, and he worked in construction and as a courier. He was encouraged to return to photography by [Richard Avedon](/source/Richard_Avedon), and moved to Washington, D.C. in 1974. He started working for HAER in 1978.[1]

## Work

Lowe uses [large format](/source/Large_format) images to record significant and often threatened American industrial sites for the National Park Service's HAER program. These images along with an extensive architectural history and measured drawings constitutes a permanent record of the industrial sites he documents. HAER projects are housed at the [Library of Congress](/source/Library_of_Congress), and many of the records are available on-line from the library's website.

Lowe's industrial photographs make up a significant portion of the HAER images collected since the founding of HAER in 1969. The National Park Service, the [American Society of Civil Engineers](/source/American_Society_of_Civil_Engineers) and the Library of Congress reached an agreement to document historic sites and structures related to engineering and industry. This agreement was later ratified by four other engineering societies: the [American Society of Mechanical Engineers](/source/American_Society_of_Mechanical_Engineers), the [Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers](/source/Institute_of_Electrical_and_Electronics_Engineers), the [American Institute of Chemical Engineers](/source/American_Institute_of_Chemical_Engineers), and the [American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers](/source/American_Institute_of_Mining,_Metallurgical,_and_Petroleum_Engineers) [citation needed]. In 1986 Lowe's work was published in the book Industrial Eye, published by the Preservation Press of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Lowe's images include a [2001 remake](https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/mi0639.photos.196515p/resource/) of the famous [Charles Sheeler](/source/Charles_Sheeler) [1927 image](http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/photographs/Criss_Crossed_Conveyors_River_Rouge_Plant_Ford_Motor/viewObject.aspx?&OID=190016915&PgSz=1) of crossing [conveyors](/source/Conveyors) taken at the [Ford River Rouge Steel Complex](/source/Ford_River_Rouge_Complex).

### Awards

He received the [Society for Industrial Archaeology](/source/Society_for_Industrial_Archaeology)'s highest honor, the General Tools Award.[2]

Lowe's work is a major part of the permanent collections of The Library of Congress HABS/HAER program, and has been the subject of exhibitions at the CEPA Gallery,[[3] the [Burchfield Penney Art Center](/source/Burchfield_Penney_Art_Center),[4] and a [Smithsonian Institution](/source/Smithsonian_Institution) traveling exhibition, *Covered Bridges: Spanning the American Landscape*.[5]

## Publications

- *Buildings of Alaska*, author Alison K. Hoagland, photographer Jet Lowe, (1995) ISBN 0-19-509380-1
- *Le patrimoine industriel des États-Unis*, authors Maria Theresa Maiullari-Pontois, and Louis Bergeron, photographs by Jet Lowe (2000)
- *Industrial Eye: Photographs by Jet Lowe from the Historic American Engineering Record*, authors Michael Leccese and David Weitzman (1987) ISBN 978-0891331247

## References

1. Leccese, Michael & Weitzman, David (1986). *Industrial Eye: Photographs by Jet Lowe from the Historic American Engineering Record*. Preservation Press. ISBN 978-0891331247.

1. Carlbon, Rebecca (April 9, 2015). ["New exhibit at Roebling Museum"](https://web.archive.org/web/20181002020456/http://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/9364334c-5185-5684-881b-d2a6ed8a1fba.html). *Burlington County Times*. Archived from [the original](http://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/9364334c-5185-5684-881b-d2a6ed8a1fba.html) on October 2, 2018.

1. ["Showing the Grain"](https://web.archive.org/web/20250119150947/http://old.cepagallery.org/exhibitions/2011showingthegrain/index.htmll). *CEPA Gallery*. 2011. Archived from [the original](http://old.cepagallery.org/exhibitions/2011showingthegrain/index.htmll) on 19 January 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

1. ["Buffalo's Grain Elevators"](https://www.burchfieldpenney.org/exhibitions/exhibition:04-19-1997-06-01-1997-buffalo-s-grain-elevators/). Burchfield Penney Art Center. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

1. Flanagan, Joe & Lowe, Jet (Winter 2004). ["Covered Bridges: Spanning the American Landscape"](https://web.archive.org/web/20210722031326/https://www.nps.gov/commonground/Winter2004/Fea2.pdf). *Common Ground*. National Park Service. Archived from [the original](https://www.nps.gov/commonground/Winter2004/Fea2.pdf) on July 22, 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

## External links

- [Library of Congress: Online HABS/HAER photography archives](http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/hhquery.html) — *public access*.
- [*American Place: The Historic American Buildings Survey at Seventy-Five Years*](https://web.archive.org/web/20161210080543/https://www.nps.gov/hdp/habs/AmericanPlace.pdf), including photographs and writing by Jet Lowe

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jet Lowe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_Lowe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_Lowe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.