BODY OF WORK
WORKS BY William Johnson
October 11 - November 9, 2024
opening reception October 11th, 5-7pm
Closing reception November 9th, 5-7pm
Statement -
For many years, William Johnson has documented people from all walks of life across many versions of themselves. This collection of prints is an abbreviated version of an ongoing photo essay and documentary focusing on gender experience, personal identity, and freedom. This exhibition consists of darkroom prints, an edition of screen prints, film negatives, and darkroom ephemera. The selected portraits in this show are informed by those consenting to be exhibited and are framed by photographic processes and image-making. If you are interested in participating in this project, please contact the Artist.
about the artist -
Among many things, William Johnson is a black and white film photographer and darkroom printer who lives and works in Highland Park, Chattanooga, TN.
“In my practice, I seek to photograph and print my surroundings. In my music, I seek to create a sonic version of the same landscapes. I was diagnosed with epilepsy at an early age, and it has afforded me the opportunity to view my surroundings in a unique way that’s often missed by those whose primary source of transportation is a vehicle. It is my thought that the camera is less an art form than the thoughts conjured by the broken mind of epilepsy. It imparts less opinion and personal aesthetic on the memory than the mind alone, and in a way, the things the camera creates are less a piece of art and more a fact made into art. The perpetually shifting landscape and/or perception of the landscape yields images of instant importance and mundane images. Often, the mundane will become the most important of all, as it is often left undocumented and forgotten to time.”