I’ve been making photographs for a long time now, close to fifty years, and only recently did I realize something that probably should’ve been obvious all along.
One of my truest loves has always been black-and-white photography.
As a kid, I spent hours flipping through Life, Look, and National Geographic magazines. Color existed back then, sure, but it was expensive, inconsistent, and often felt beside-the-point. Black and white told the truth. It stripped everything down to its essence.
That feeling never really left me.
Over the years, my professional work moved toward color: nature photography, landscapes, images designed to live in healthcare environments and public spaces. I love that work deeply. But somewhere along the way, black and white started quietly tapping me on the shoulder again.
About a year ago, a dear friend and photography brother nudged me in that direction.
“Why don’t you just take a dedicated black-and-white camera?” he said.
Then, lightening struck and opened my formatted mind into a binary reality…again.
I stopped thinking about clients. I stopped thinking about monetization. I stopped thinking about audience.
I just started looking again.
I began experimenting with a 65:24 panoramic format, and suddenly my brain had to relearn how to see. The proportions felt strange at first… and then exhilarating. Architecture, urban spaces, shadows, repetition, quiet geometry. Even the occasional flock of birds perched at the top of a tree, clearly up to something.
This work became a reset - a new way to see the world.
I travel constantly for my nature photography work, and now my black-and-white camera goes everywhere with me. If I see something that feels right, something that wants to exist without color, I make the photograph. No agenda. No pressure.
The great photographer Garry Winogrand was once asked why he took pictures. His answer has always stayed with me:
“I want to see what things look like photographed.”
That’s it. That’s the whole thing.
This Kurt Johnson Fine Art Photography project grew directly out of that idea.
- Kurt
"Seeing is the start. Feeling is the end result."
- Kurt Johnson
CV
2024 - 1516 Gallery - Omaha, NE - Bi-Annual Photography Juried Exhibit
January 2025 - Lens Culture new Visions Photography Awards
Honorable Mention
January 2025 - Teravarna - 15th Annual Abstract Award
Honorable Mention
January 2025 - Fame Frame Gallery - Lines and Shadows
Honorable Mention
July 2025 - Praxis Art Gallery, Minneapolis, MN - Water and Sky
Juried Exhibit
January 2026 - Fame Frame Gallery - Floral Inspirations
Honorable Mention
February 2026 - Fame Frame Gallery - Symphony of Color
Honorable Mention
February 2026 - Teravarna Gallery - 11th Annual Flower Exhibition
Honorable Mention
March 2026 - Fame Frame Gallery - Earth and Sky
Honorable Mention
April 2026 - Fame Frame Gallery - Essence of Water
Honorable Mention
April 2026 - Teravarna - Water Exhibit
Honorable Mention
April 2026 - Teravarna 13th Annual Landscape Exhibition
Honorable Mention
June 2026 - Teravarna - 16th Annual Abstract Awards
Finalist
June 2026 - Accent Gallery Black & White Exhibition
Finalist
May 2026 - Circle Gallery - Agora Gallery, Chelsea, NY
Honorable Mention
June 2026 - Circle Foundation for the Arts
Creative Excellence Award
July 2026 - Blue Cat Gallery “Signs of Rural Life”
Juried Exhibition
July 2026 - NO. 35 GALLERY
Juried Exhibition - Abstract Excellence