Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Johnson.
Michael, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
All of us have memories that we look back on. I’ve always wanted to capture and save those memories. Photos last longer than the people in the photos. When I was younger, my great-grandmother would pull out the photo album and show us our family members and all the places she visited. Fast forward to the age of the internet and smartphones we have so many images just sitting on our phones and various cloud drives. I wanted to capture the moment and make the memory as beautiful as the moment. I sold the rims on my car to buy an entry-level camera. I enrolled in the University of YouTube and started studying every lighting video on YouTube. I still have a lot to learn, but I know I can make moments into beautiful memories.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I’m a photographer. At a young age I was an artist. I used to paint and draw on everything. I would create murals on buildings, paint on jeans and sell them. In my adulthood and with the age of digital media and photography I sometimes find it hard to separate digital art and photography. When I first started editing my photos they looked like paintings because that was my background. Some clients hired me because they liked that look and I lost some clients because they wanted basic photos. I’ve learned to do both now. If I have complete artistic freedom, then my style of the photo will be digital art. If the client wants a nicely done photograph, I can also do that. What makes art (digital art, paintings, drawings, photography, etc.) good or bad depends on the purpose. If you create the art for a client, then if it’s good or bad is from the perspective of the buyer. If you create the art for yourself, then all that matters is how the artist feels about it.
Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
The role of artists has changed. Artists now have a huge platform do be heard. Artists are no longer censored. Artists can use social media to display their views on what’s going on in the world today. Artists have multiple ways to make their voices heard. From sites like YouTube to podcasts, artists can create a following. If an artist doesn’t like those mediums, they can create their own.
We all want our work to be relevant to the current times, but at the same time as you’re trying to sell your work, you have to be aware of you, your potential clients are. You can make a statement, but you must also know that a statement that causes division can have a direct effect on your potential clients. If I’m selling artwork, I stay away from political views.
As a photographer, I also have to be aware of sexism. In my photography, most of my clients are women. I don’t photography women in a disrespectful or misogynistic way. There are women that want to be photographed for boudoir or artistic nudity. All my photoshoots are thoroughly discussed and agreed upon by the artist and the photographer before the shoot.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
My photos are mostly on my websites and social media sites.
Instagram – @AbstractPerceptions
Web URL – www.AbstractPerceptions.com
The clients that usually buy my photographs print them and hang them in their homes.
I once visited Israel and went on tour. There was a young gentleman in the tour group. He saw my camera and asked if I could take a few shots of him for his grandmother. I actually took quite a few, and a month or so later, I posted them in a gallery. This gallery is where clients can buy prints, canvases, mugs, blankets, mousepads, etc. Three months later, I got a few sales alerts. I went to check which photos were being purchased, and someone was buying ALL the photos of this young man. I received an email from his grandmother, thanking me for the photos. From this moment, I never took any photos down from my site. I used to expire them and remove them after 90 days.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.AbstractPerceptions.com
- Phone: 513-443-2806
- Email: mjohnson@AbstractPerceptions.com
- Instagram: @AbstractPerceptions
Image Credit:
@jennygfit @natalie_przz @bodiesbycoco @nightmarebrii @bourgebombshell @iam.justshar
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