The books of May are here—fresh, fierce, and full of feels.
Jason Miccolo Johnson
Jason Miccolo Johnson is a nationally known
award-winning documentary, editorial, and fine art
photographer. The native Memphian and Howard University
alumnus is perhaps best recognized for his trademark "visual
call-and-response" shooting style with poignant images that
focus on the subject's eyes and hands. No where else is this
more evident than in his new book, Soul Sanctuary:
Images of the African American Worship Experience,
which Gordon Parks calls a "magnificent collection" of
images.
Johnson has taken exclusive photos of some of the world's
most recognizable persons including Princess Diana, Nelson
Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Colin Powell, and Oprah Winfrey. In
2003, Johnson received the ArtMaker award from the national
HistoryMakers organization and in 2000 was
honored with the Photographer of the Year award from The
Exposure Group professional photographers association.
He has been published in more than 15 books and 50 magazines
including, Songs of My People,
Standing in the Need of Prayer,
Q: The Autobiography of Quincy
Jones, Black Mothers: Songs of
Praise and Celebration, and
Committed to the Image. Magazine
titles include Christian Singles, Glamour,
Essence, Ebony, Time,
Newsweek, Smithsonian, Jet, and
Black Enterprise.
His work has appeared in two major Smithsonian Institution
exhibitions; "Reflections in Black," and "Speak to My
Heart," and is in the permanent collections of the St. Louis
Art Museum and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. His images
can currently be seen in the national traveling exhibition,
"Saturday Night/Sunday Morning," organized by the Leica
Gallery.
Johnson is highly respected by his peers for his
professionalism and insight into the future of the
profession. He often lectures on photography at conferences
and universities nationally. He was the visionary and
organizer of the historic 90th birthday tribute to legendary
photographer Gordon Parks in 2002, which brought 90 of the
nation's top African American photographers to New York in
Mr. Parks' honor for an historic group photo and dinner.
He is a former photo editor at USA Today's Sports
Weekly, and production assistant at ABC Network News'
Good Morning America. For 25 years, Johnson has
been the African Methodist Episcopal Church's official
general conference photographer and since 1990 the official
photographer of the National Association of Black
Journalists.