Photography Atelier

Donald P. Johnson

Things, Shed…
Most days I take a walk. My goal is always the same no matter the location, time of day, or season: walk, contemplate, notice. As I walk I look for interesting objects. Things lost, abandoned, or forgotten; the whimsical, the unusual or the mundane. Nature and humans both continually shed into our environment. Nature continues the cycle of creation, life, death, and renewal. We humans, however, have a different way of leaving things behind. Our discarding can be accidental, careless, willful, or malevolent. At its worst, what we cast off has permanence. At a minimum these discarded objects mar everyone else’s experience.

Things, Shed… shows the contrast between the organic cycle of nature versus the durability of human-discarded objects. Sadly, over time many of our abandoned things begin to look like they actually belong. I don’t expect this work to solve the on-going ecological disaster caused by humans. Rather, I hope these images will invite reflection on the question: “Can we do better?”

About

Donald P. Johnson is a photographer and technologist currently living in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Raised in upstate New York, he spent many years living in New York City and has since relocated to the south coast of New England. He holds a BS in Math/Computer Science and an MFA in Theatre Light Design. Donald worked in theater for a decade before transitioning to the technology sector. Photography was initially a means of documenting his theatre designs, but he has since made it the focus of his artistic practice. Donald mainly photographs intimate landscapes, urban scapes, sea scapes, and the convergence of people and nature. He hikes to photograph and photographs to hike.