Kristopher Johnson Interview | Exclusive | Deep Tanks Studio
What inspired you to focus on photographing everyday people rather than famous individuals?
It’s not that I don’t want to photograph famous people. I sent my portfolio out to publications and got very little work. I got a few jobs for Spin magazine back in the day. I’ve always done portraits of family and friends. But pretty soon. I got all I was going to get from a small circle of people. The moment that changed, everything was a project to photograph the artist at Lumen, a performance art and installation event sponsored by Staten Island arts. The person curating the event was not happy that I was added at the last minute. She did not send the artist my way as she was asked to do. So I started to ask people who are at the event to pose for portraits. When I got back to the studio and looked at what I got, I knew I was onto something. I reached out to different events to offer my services no charge. Just to get as many new portraits as I could. This allowed me to fine-tune my set up with my pop-up portrait studio. And to eventually make money selling prints. and doing weddings and private events with my pop-up studio.
Can you describe a moment when you felt you truly captured the essence of your subject?
A photograph in which I felt like I really caught the essence of the subject, is the photograph of Maggie. She didn’t want to be photographed. I could tell she was uncomfortable. I noticed she had this ball in her hand so I asked her to squeeze the ball as hard as she could, what makes the photo is what she does with her right hand.
How do you approach a photoshoot to make your subjects feel comfortable and natural?
How do I make people feel comfortable in front of the camera? I never tell someone what they are doing is wrong. I don’t want them fixated on what they think they did wrong. I want them relaxed. With digital photography, there’s no cost per frame like there was with film photography. So I will take a photo of someone even though I know it’s gonna be a bad shot. You never know if the next frame is the one you’ve been looking for . If I had stopped the person I wouldn’t have never gotten that second shot.
What techniques do you use to reveal a side of your subjects they may not have seen before? What technique do I use?
That’s a secret, just kidding. It’s a combinations of things. And it depends on the subject. If a person is a bit camera shy or deer in the headlights. I’ll try to break them out of it by shooting real fast and stepping in real close to shock them to get a reaction. Works every time. Once I tell a person where to stand and get my lighting set, I just start shooting without warning. This often catches people by surprise. It all depends on the subject. If A person is very animated in I will shoot very fast. I shoot it with a zoom lens which allows me to shoot from a distance or to shoot very close this zooming in and out also has an effect on how people react in front of my lens. Sometimes I ask people to hug . This changes everything. As they react to each other.
Another technique that I use is to ask people to scream. I have a whole section on my website of people screaming. Asking people to screen breaks the tension of having her photograph taken often some of the best photos happen after I ask people to scream.
How do you choose your subjects for your photography projects?
How do I choose my subjects? I don’t choose my subjects. The events choose the subjects. Photos, from a holiday market will be completely different from Photos shot at Coney Island Sideshow/freak bar. Sometimes I find subjects at these events and asked them to come to my studio for a more focused photo shoot.
Can you share a story of a memorable photoshoot?
I’ve had many memorable photo shoots over the years. When I first started with my pop-up portrait studio a friend of mine Liz obsidian recommended me to a performance artist named Shane Shane. He is a queer performer /Singer . He hosted underground music parties called fancy in a basement in Brooklyn. I had a space 5 feet wide 7 feet deep with 6 foot ceilings to shoot in. I had a fantastic time shooting a cross-section of the LGBTQ community. Amazing subjects. Amazing people. I learned a lot shooting those events for Shane Shane I shot five or six of these parties for a couple of years.
What challenges do you face when trying to capture the soul of your subjects?
I don’t think of it as a challenge. It’s more of a hunt. Hunting for that moment. It’s hard to explain. A friend of mine once said to me ,I was very good at capturing the inbetween moments.The photographer, Henri Cartier Bresson coined to phrase the decisive moment. It means that if you think to yourself, “Do I take the shot?”. It’s too late you missed it. Don’t overthink it. I don’t know if I always capture the soul of my subjects. I try to get the best possible photo I can. And then every once in a while an amazing subject will show up and something magical happens. Another successful hunt for the soul catcher. A new piece for the portfolio.
How do you balance technical skills and emotional connection in your photography?
At this point, I don’t think about the technical stuff. It’s like knowing your scales in music. Once you got it, you don’t have to think about it. You just do it. F stops, shutter speeds, light readings and lighting. I don’t approach photography from an emotional place. To me it’s all about aesthetics. capturing moment in time. A moment that the subject may or did not know was happening. Capturing this moment with perfect lighting and composition.
What role does lighting play in capturing the essence of your subjects?
Lighting is the most important thing in photography in my opinion. The word photography means “Study of Light“. On the technical end of my work, it is the most important aspect of my work. A large percentage of my style is my lighting.
How do you stay inspired and find joy in your daily photography work?
I wish I could photograph people every day, but that’s not possible. I just try to find opportunities to shoot. I recently Started a Still Life project to keep me busy in between shoots.
What advice would you give to aspiring photographers who want to focus on capturing the true essence of their subjects?
The advice I would give aspiring photographers would be to study the history of photography. Once you find out what kind of photography you want to do ,study all the photography you can in that genre. The key is not to copy, but to take pieces of what you like, and create your own style. Also master your tools, cameras, lighting and computer skills. Learn how to pre-visualize. Seeing in your minds eye what kind of image you want to take. And have the knowledge to make that happen.
How do you think your photography impacts the people you photograph and your audience?
Something I never really thought about is what the impact my photography would have on people. Having done this for over 10 years now. It surprises me how many people will come up to me and say “You photographed my family and I many years ago and they are still our most treasured photos. Many of these families come back year after year. Recently, a friend and photographer Gail Middleton passed away. She was a great supporter of the arts on Staten Island. I photographed Gail many times over the years. She was one of my best customers. After she passed I created a Facebook photo album of Gail and Gail with her friends. To share with all of our friends. The comments of appreciation was heartwarming and bittersweet. She will be missed.
Can you talk about a photo that is significant to you and why?
One of the photos has the most significance to me and there are many. Is the photo of Native American boy which I took in 1989 while traveling out west. We were at a rest area, just hanging out by the car. When out of the desert come a group of kids all covered in dirt and dust, I saw this one kid and I was like damn I want to take a picture of him. One adult led the kids, apparently they’re from an orphanage. The kid that caught my eye was the Native American boy. I didn’t want the other kids to feel left out so I asked if I could photograph all of them. And I did. There’s something about being in the right place at the right time. This photo helped me on my search to figure out what kind of photographer I wanted to be. This photo is still displayed in my studio.
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