For the first time in ten years, the photography of award-winning photojournalist Jason Miccolo Johnson will be on display in two galleries in the Washington, DC area. Opening at the Anacostia Arts Center (1231 Good Hope Road, SE) on October 4 from 6:00-9:00 p.m. and at the B Spot Art Gallery (1123 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE) on October 5 from 4:00-8:00 p.m., Johnson’s innovative and creative solo photography exhibition, Mysterioso: Rhythm. Movement. Improvisation, pays homage to jazz themes. The exhibition runs until October 30.
Inspired by the 1958 Thelonious Monk jazz album, “Misterioso”, Johnson’s Mysterioso, “will ignite a sense of mystery and intrigue in viewers and take them on an intellectual and artistic journey through space and time.” Each sub-theme explores the confluence of harmony and tension and incorporates sculptural representations and rhythmic patterns of color. Soft muted shades called “hush tones,” created through a special technique Johnson developed using fabrics, “enchant the quiet zones of the viewer’s soul,” explains Johnson.
From macro shots of flowers to musicians photographed in mind-bending ways, abstract colors explode out of the frames of some photographs and stir the imagination in others. “You will be able to feel the images as well as see them,” says Johnson. His use of color and bold silhouettes emphasize his keen eye for movement, irony, and the subliminal. Much like the improvisation in a jazz performance or the ambiance reminiscent of a smoky 1940s jazz club.
Johnson said, “Compared to my more recognized black and white documentary photographs, this exhibition represents a turning point in the evolution of my work.” A preview and more detailed information on the photographic exhibition can be found at: www.mysteriosoexhibition.com
Jason Miccolo Johnson is a nationally known award-winning photographer perhaps best recognized for his trademark visual call-and-response shooting style where the focus is on the subject’s eyes and hands. He is the author of the bestseller, Soul Sanctuary: Images of the African American Worship Experience, a coffee table size book that captures the first authentic documentation of the worship experience of Black churches. Johnson’s mentor, the legendary photographer Gordon Parks, wrote the book’s foreward.
Johnson’s photographs are in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution, the St. Louis Art Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. He has contributed work to 24 books, over 55 magazines, and five films, including the feature film Guess Who. Johnson’s photographic subjects have included President Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Princess Diana, Naomi Campbell, Oprah Winfrey, and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
His photographs have appeared in Time, Newsweek, Smithsonian, Glamour, Essence, Washingtonian, Financial World, Travel & Leisure, Black Enterprise, and Ebony.
Jason Miccolo Johnson is a Howard University alumni and the recipient of an ArtMakers Award from the national HistoryMakers organization. He formerly worked for USA TODAY and ABC Network News. He currently resides in Washington, DC.
