ROCK HALL — Jon and Sarah Ware are always on the hunt for the unexpected. As visual storytellers, they search for people, imagery, and themes that will resonate with viewers — and they rarely have to look beyond their Eastern Shore home.
The Wares moved to Elkton 17 years ago and one of the first things they did was reach out to the Cecil County Arts Council. Since then, they have been working with director Anne Marie Hamilton and, with her assistance, the Wares have gotten connected with various artists working with all different types of media. They soon began production on a series titled “Artists in Elkton,” composed of short film pieces on those making art and living in Cecil County. About a year ago, Hamilton introduced the Wares to J.P. Henry, a young man with autism who is well known in his community for his talent in photography.
Hamilton “showed us some of [J.P.’s] work, and told us about his neurodiversity and how prolific and talented he was,” Sarah Ware said. “We met J.P. and his mom, Jane, and asked if they would be interested in allowing us to do a documentary on them.”
The film duo soon began spending time with Jane and J.P., and learning more about him and his process as a photo artist. Though the original and current goal is to make a feature-length film, the Wares created a short film in the meantime entitled “A Clear Lens,” which was a finalist in the 2024 New York International Film Awards. It also received Official Selection at the Five-Minute Film Festival.
“J.P. is very charismatic and extremely talented, and his photographs are stunning,” Sarah said. “It’s quite a talent to pick up a regular old cell phone, see something in the community, and figure out that it would be a good photograph.”
J.P. has a strong following on social media, and his platform has become a place where community members can feel that they are a part of his creative process and see themselves and the Shore represented in his work.
“There are very few places we can go without J.P. being recognized,” said Jane, J.P.’s mom, business manager, and No. 1 fan. “Living part-time in Rock Hall has really opened him up.”
Growing up on the family farm in Earleville, J.P.’s childhood was spent surrounded by animals and nature. As he grew older, however, Jane felt that farm life had become limiting and began to look for a second, smaller residence where J.P. could become more independent by walking to town unaccompanied and getting to know neighbors.
“Here in Rock Hall,” Jane said, “J.P. can walk down to the water or to the post office to mail a letter. He has started to come out of his shell. He goes for daily walks and always stops to talk to people along the way.”
Jane noticed J.P.’s creative talent when he was quite young. After he was diagnosed with autism at age two, Jane learned that children and adults with autism often possess an exceptional attention to detail. J.P. enjoyed drawing for many years and took off-campus arts classes while attending Elkton High School.
“His drawings were very linear, but with 3D elements to them,” Jane said. “I have many portfolios of his work.”
But, she says, like any pastime for many people with autism, their interest in them tends to be finite. “He feels that he’s ‘been there, done that,’” she said, “and it’s in the past.”
J.P. moved on to photography around 2018 when he became engrossed in the photo capabilities of smartphones. Jane uses a Google Pixel and J.P. quickly mastered the finetuning of settings to bring his perspective to life. He particularly enjoys shooting anything related to boats or the water.
“My favorite boat is ‘The Nipper’,” J.P. said of a craft docked in Rock Hall. Jane and J.P. have become friends with the boat’s owner and J.P. has taken many photos of it. In fact, some of his most popular photos have been of boats. The Henrys lovely Craftsman home is the hub for J.P.’s work, all in various stages of being framed, mounted, or shipped out to customers. With more than 1,600 followers on his Facebook page, J.P. has become a prolific artist on the Eastern Shore and beyond, shipping his photographs all over the country.
His talent was first put on display in a one-man show in 2019 at the Cecil County Arts Council, the same organization whose director brought him to the attention of filmmakers Jon and Sarah Ware. At his 2019 show, “Visual Embrace,” J.P. displayed 170 photographs with subject matter ranging from the nautical to images from the wide-ranging travel he and Jane do together. One of his favorites is a scene from a worship service at a Black church in Clarksville, Mississippi, which depicts the church’s pastor conducting a healing on a parishioner. The way J.P. was able to immortalize the emotion and energy of the moment is one of many reasons for his wide and loyal following.
J.P. loves to take in all the world has to offer, particularly through travel. He looks most forward to trips and will tell you that “if you don’t take a plane, it’s not a vacation.” One of his favorites was a cruise to Central America that he and Jane took prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since his 2019 show, J.P. has exhibited his work at the Cecil County Arts Council twice more, in 2021 and 2023. His 2021 show was titled “Happiness Behind the Mask” and contained primarily photos of sunsets and local Shore life. In 2023, “Happy for this #3: I Love Where I Live” included primarily watermen and their boats. And J.P. continues to shoot photos wherever he goes. Jon and Sarah Ware will soon be taking more footage for a longer film featuring J.P., including an upcoming motorcycle ride in which J.P. will be wired with a microphone for full commentary.
“J.P. has a special leather motorcycle jacket ready to go for the ride,” Jane said. “It has a skull on the back and metal detailing on the front.” Jane shares that J.P. has a proclivity for fancy jackets and enjoys attending events where getting dressed up is a must. Two of his favorites are adorned with gold sequins and were made by a tailor at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. J.P.’s flair is just one of the many attributes of his personality that have resonated with fans of his photos and is a reason why Jon and Sarah Ware want to share his story.
And they have a good sense for storytelling. The Wares’ production company, WareTech Studio, is based in Elkton and has received critical acclaim for many of their works. A 2013 film they produced, “The Nowtime of Peace,” is a 10-minute short which received an Honorable Mention at the Ron Kovic “My Hero International Film Festival.” WareTech went on to produce “40 Steps,” a narrative drama short which was officially selected and subsequently screened at the 2014 Maryland International Film Festival in Hagerstown. Another of their films, entitled “Liz and Iris: A Love Story,” won a Best Documentary award in 2022 at the Philadelphia Cinema Awards and was officially selected by several other festivals, including Exceptional Merit at the 2022 LGBTQ Unbordered International Film Festival. That documentary was also an Official Selection of the Love Story Film Festival in London and was screened online worldwide.
“We didn’t start out with a short film [on J.P.] in mind,” said Jon Ware. “The short was a result of the goal of producing a feature film.”
And the Wares are excited to continue their production of it.
“I remember when we first saw a few of his photos,” said Sarah Ware. “We looked at each other and said, ‘OK, this is definitely something we need to do.’ We think it will be a really impactful story to share with the community.”
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