Faculty
Stephen Johnson is a landscape photographer, author, designer and educator. He has been photographing since 1973. His work has been featured in Communication Arts, Life Magazine, American Photo, Outdoor Photographer, PBS Newshour and ABC Discovery News, among many others. His books include At Mono Lake, the award winning and critically acclaimed The Great Central Valley: California’s Heartland, Making a Digital Book and the new Stephen Johnson on Digital Photography. Internationally recognized as a digital photography pioneer, Johnson’s photographs have been exhibited, published and collected in the United States, Europe, Mexico and Japan. His work has concentrated on large environmentally sensitive photograph projects, including the NEA funded and Congressionally honored At Mono Lake, and the award winning Great Central Valley Project. In 1994 he embarked on With A New Eye, the ground breaking all digital photographic look at American national parks. Steve was recognized by Apple Computer in 1997 with a ColorSync Profiling Excellence Award. In 1999, Folio Magazine declared the publication of Johnson’s digital photographs in Life Magazine to be one of the Top 15 Critical Events in magazine publishing in the twentieth century. In 2003 he was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame. Canon named Steve as one of their Explorers of Light in 2006 and sponsors speaking engagements with him around the country. In 2007 X-Rite named Stephen as a founding member of their exclusive Coloratti group of photographers and educators honored for their skills in color management.
Stephen is well known for his passionate lectures and deep love for the traditions of fine photography. His photography Studios, Galleries and Education Center are located in Pacifica, California. www.sjphoto.com
For more than 20 years, Stephen Johnson has played an influential role in the development of the photographic tools used today. In the late 1980s, he consulted with various high tech firms on the development of digital scanners and printers. By the early 1990s he was working with Adobe, Leaf and Betterlight on the development of software and digital camera hardware. The mid-1990s further expanded his high tech consultation to include Apple’s Advanced Technology Group, QuickTime VR and color management with Gretag MacBeth. The late 1990s brought deep work with Epson on the development of their pigment based printers and with Foveon on the development of their full-resolution X3 color sensor. Work in the last decade has included the design of the Museum Etching paper for Hahnemühle, and working with Hewlett Packard in Barcelona on the conceptualization, design and performance of the self-profiling Z Series Digital Fine Art printers. His 20 year relationship with Adobe has continued to influence product development on Photoshop with his recommendations continuing to find their way into products including Photoshop CS6’s Camera RAW 7/Lightroom 4.
This record puts Steve in the singular position of photographing with a camera he had deep influence on, editing with software he played real roles in expanding and customizing, printing on printers he helped design, on paper he did design. His has been a truly remarkable career journey, pioneering a level of involvement in the development of the tools of his trade that may be unprecedented.