JH Engström was born in 1969 in Karlstad, Värmland, Sweden. He moved to Paris with his parents at the age of 10 and back to Sweden when he was 13, but spent a lot of his adolescence in Paris. In 1991 he moved back to Paris and worked as assistant to fashion photographer Mario Testino. In 1993 he went back to Stockholm to start working as assistant to documentary photographer Anders Petersen. In 1997 he graduated from the photography and film department at Gothenburg University. The same year he published his first book, Shelter. In 1998 he moved to Brooklyn, New York and started work on Trying to Dance. In 2000 he travelled throughout Europe and then moved to his native Värmland where he continues working on the Trying to Dance project. He has received numerous grants and awards since 1994. His work is held in collections both in Europe and USA. He also leads workshops regularly. JH Engström lives and works in Skåne, in the south of Sweden.