Joseph Scheer is an internationally acclaimed artist, printmaker, photographer, and author.

He taught for many years as a distinguished professor of print media at Alfred University in New York and founded and co-directed the university’s Institute for Electronic Arts.

Growing up in a military family, Scheer moved frequently and had many diverse experiences both in the United States and abroad. From an early age, he was especially drawn to the natural world and the unique local flora and fauna around him. His expanded world view and love of nature led him to study fine arts at Alfred University and pursue an M.A. and M.F. A. with a focus on printmaking from the University of New Mexico.

Scheer specializes in creating images of moths using a high-resolution scanner with extended focus, which allows him to capture multiple views of a specimen to ensure that all parts appear in sharp focus. To create the final print, he makes a composite of all these images.

Scheer’s work has appeared in numerous books and scientific journals such as National Geographic, The New York Times, ArtNews, Science, Nature, American Photo, DerSpiegel, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. He has also published two books—Night Visions: The Secret Designs of Moths, and Night Flyers.

Institutions that have exhibited Scheer’s work include the Guanlan Museum of Printmaking, Guanlan, China; the Queensland College of Art and Design, Brisbane, Australia; the Solander Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand; Burchfield Penny Art Center, Buffalo, New York; the Yantai Museum of Art, Yantai, China; and the National Museum of China, Beijing. An exhibition at Regionmuseet in Skåne, Sweden, comprising 100 of his large-format prints, traveled to four other museums in that country.

Scheer is a recipient of numerous awards including the New York State Council for the Arts Project Grant, the Fulbright-Garcia Robles Scholar Research Grant, an Artistic Merit Award from the Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts, The State University of New York’s Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities, and Alfred University’s Outstanding Teaching Awards.

Scheer works from his studio in Hornell, New York. When not engaged in ongoing projects about the moths of Changbai Mountain in Jilin, China, and the biodiversity of cacti in Mexico and Argentina, he enjoys traveling and fishing.

Scheer's image appears on the 2025 Luna Moth stamp.

Until the World Stamp Show:

Figures of the American Revolution