Short Bio
I am a photographer and educator and have been doing both for almost 40 years. My work has been mostly large projects from which exhibitions and 4 books have been drawn, many concentrating threatened landscapes. Much of my work in the last 25 years has been associated with my advocacy, consulting and artwork related to digital photography and helping to nurse its evolution into serious and truthful photographic tools.
Statement
My photography concentrates on natural world and landscape projects exploring wild, endangered spaces and human-altered lands, making images that strive to depict a respect for life and the land with a real-world celebration of our relationship to nature.
I work to visually explore the emotional bond I feel with the natural world, and to create compelling art that suggests that kinship. I carry a deep respect for the intrinsic beauty of that real world and a dedication to render the visual seduction of what I see. I want my work to contribute to the understanding of our relationship to the natural world, and to have a positive influence on the preservation of our remaining wild places.
Biography
Stephen Johnson's photography concentrates on natural world and landscape projects exploring wild, endangered spaces and human-altered lands, making images that depict a respect for the land and a real-world celebration of our relationship to nature.
He has long sought high photographic craft and is well known for his drive to making fine prints, excelling at sharing his knowledge, and passion for our medium with countless individuals. He is the creator of touring exhibitions, five books, three portfolios and has been teaching photography since 1978. Individual collectors and museums have been collecting his work for decades.
Johnson has worked with Adobe and many other industry leaders on expanding and refining the tools we use as photographers. He has literally helped shape digital photography as we know it today. Steve was named to the Photoshop Hall of Fame in 2003, as an ‘Explorer of Light’ by Canon in 2006, and lectures at leading industry seminars and universities as well as mentoring a select group of aspiring artists. He is currently featured in the Computer History Museum's Photoshop Exhibit.
In 1999, Folio Magazine declared the publication of Johnson's digital photographs in Life Magazine to be one of the Top 15 Critical Events in magazine publishing in the twentieth century. Life Magazine declared the Stephen Johnson "is a landscape photographer that applies science to nature and creates art."
A New Realism: Photographer's Gallery 1998
Johnson's work births a "new realism," a post modern expression beyond the constraints of conventional photographic techniques and styles. Plunging into a rich pastel world rarely attempted in photography, yet uncannily familiar to human experience, he is doing battle with color photographic convention of contrasty, saturated renditions, forcing us to see a world we know, but which photography has largely ignored. His sensitive design and color take us into a remarkable world of sensual visual experience.
Contending that the real world is already "self-embellished" he prefers a straightforward attempt at rendering of what he sees, working hard to portray what is before the camera optic. This significant break from film's inherent distortion and recent digital trends of embellishment and enhancement reveals his affection for seeing beauty, compelling form and visual power in the world as he finds it.
"I want my experience in a place of visual power to be brought to the viewer. My ability to see the image as I make it gives me the on site power to test my vision as the two dimensional interpretation of a photograph. Judging the light presence and design fully realized is critical."
