Ansel Adams' First Photography Student Speaks to Marin Catholic Photographers
Ansel Adam's first African American student, David Johnson, now 86 years old, came to speak to and inspire the photography students of Marin Catholic. David attended San Francisco Art Institution (then called California School of Fine Arts) and spent 40 years of his life documenting Fillmore Street with his photography of African Americans throughout the decades, the clubs, dance halls and way of life.
One of the threads that ran through his presentation to the students was that sometimes, we are in a place that allows us access to a profound and/or historical moment...and at the time, we may not realize that our capturing that moment may one day tell a powerful story. When he shared that he had photographed the March on Washington in 1963 and heard MLK's "I have a dream" speech, he had no idea that 50 years later, he would end up being honored by the Library of Congress.
Today, David lives and works in the Bay Area and still actively photographs his everyday world around him.
Click here to learn more about David Johnson.
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One of the threads that ran through his presentation to the students was that sometimes, we are in a place that allows us access to a profound and/or historical moment...and at the time, we may not realize that our capturing that moment may one day tell a powerful story. When he shared that he had photographed the March on Washington in 1963 and heard MLK's "I have a dream" speech, he had no idea that 50 years later, he would end up being honored by the Library of Congress.
Today, David lives and works in the Bay Area and still actively photographs his everyday world around him.
Click here to learn more about David Johnson.
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