A look at the Works of DW Johnson

written by Houke de Kwant on August 18, 2016

Born, Douglas William Johnson, July 4th 1962, D.W. Johnson has always had an innate talent for art. His photographic quest began at age twelve when he won his first local art show. Four years later he set off into the world of Fine Art Photography. After early sucess as a photographer and teacher Johnson branched out into other forms of mediums.

Offered an instructor’s position at the University of Missouri in 1989 Johnson took the job and set off on yet another variant of his photographic career. Johnson has now been teaching students for over 25 years and has helped produce some of today’s best known commercial talent.

DW Johnson: Originally I set out to create fine art photographs in the style of Ansel Adams. My work which started over three decades ago has transformed into three distinct categories:

Much of my black and white work is created in the T.O.A.D.S. genre. T.O.A.D.S. is an acronym for Transient, Obsolete, Abandoned, Derelict, Sites. They are images of the forgotten remnants of man’s existence.

A large portion of my color work is concentrated in botanical and floral images, both in a natural setting and in the studio.

My newest creations are so unique that I had to invent a new classification to describe them Photo-strata are images created by destroying the original image and creating a new collage into a whole piece of art.

My work often focuses on the natural world and the de-evolution of man and his material work, Some of my newest subject matter is about women and the female form and the inherent societal pressure of “beauty”. The direction of my work was not intentional – it all developed and evolved over time. People always ask for my artist statement so I needed to create one but I’ve never liked to explain my work. If I’ve made an image and that’s how I wanted it to be, hopefully it can speak for itself and whatever it says to the viewer. Each witness takes something different from the same piece.