Today we’d like to introduce you to Grace Johnson.
Hi Grace, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Growing up, I practiced competitive gymnastics throughout my childhood and competed at a national level throughout my young adulthood. The sport took up much of my time, but I always found ways to seek out hobbies that interested me on the side. I picked up photography in high school and learned I enjoyed shooting portraits very quickly. Throughout high school and coming into college, I still practiced photography but never made it a priority because I knew I would never have enough time to pursue the art, fully due to my time spent practicing gymnastics. I came to Oregon State in 2020 and began my college experience as an athlete and a digital communications major. I had torn my ACL once, in my Junior year of high school, but came back and made it on the Oregon State gymnastics team, thinking everything would go smoothly for my four years of college. My freshman year, I re-tore my ACL, which required time off to heal. I decided to focus more on photography and educate myself about the practice to improve my overall skills.
From then, I realized how passionate I feel about portraiture and editorial photography, so I decided to switch my major to Photography. A year after my injury, I began to come back to practicing gymnastics but realized my love for the sport wasn’t the same. I found myself in a difficult situation, torn between something I had done my whole life or something I felt would hopefully take me somewhere in the future. In the spring of 2022, I medically retired gymnastics and changed my degree to a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography to fully experience life as an art student. From then on, I’ve been immersing myself in the craft and putting the same drive and passion I had toward gymnastics into my photography and personal improvement. I’ve met brilliant people who share this same passion as I do and have experienced such love and support from the photo community! I am currently still living in Corvallis, working with Oregon State athletics as the Head Women’s Basketball Photographer while running my personal freelance photography business.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It hasn’t been all smooth. Six months after I retired gymnastics, my ACL tore a third time, and I wasn’t able to walk normally for almost three months due to recovery. It was difficult to do my photography classes and work, but honestly, in the time I was on crutches, I made some of my favorite work to date. I thankfully had an amazing support system, which inspired me to push to be productive in my classes and projects while healing.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in editorial and fashion portraiture. I’ve always been interested in fashion culture and expressing it through photography. I find working with other people fulfilling, and creating connections between the model and I leads to genuine work! I find people very inspiring and look to many different communities for inspiration for my art.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I’m very interested to see how AI changes the arts, especially with how quickly it’s evolving. I do believe upcoming photographers are finding more and more unconventional and creative ways to spice up portraiture and I’m excited to be a part of the photography world for the near future.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: graceannajohnson
Image Credits
Image of me – by Kane Nguyen
