Stephen Johnson Photography News

January 2026

Hello to my subscribers and guest readers. Thanks for visiting this January 2026 newsletter.

Welcome to 2026. I am very proud that 2025 was filled with exhibitions gathering diverse bodies of work together,

This month's View From Here column celebrates those exhibitions, and looks forward to the my new little studio joining the artists of the Pacifica Center of the Arts. This transition to a small working studio from my Galleries and Studios of 26 years is a challenge but will helpfully allow me to concentrate on outreaching projects instead of filling my gallery walls.

We will be having a final public event at the big galleries celebrating our 21 years at that location in our Galley Farewell Closing Reception Sunday January 18, 2026 noon to 4pm.

The expanded version of my Urban Eden Golden Gate Park show into a 50 print version, with a new catalog will continue in my walls through the last days of the Gallery at the end of January..

As I mentioned last month, with my studio/gallery closing at the end of January, my existing exhibitions I have created are available for loan to museums and galleries. They include Life From, With a New Eye: The Digital National Parks Project, Exquisite Earth, selections from The Great Central Valley Project and the 50 Years of Space Photography. You can check out the exhibit loan possibilities here.

I have scheduled a Fine Art Digital Printing class for March 7-10, 2026 and is now half-full. If you want to join me, register soon.

Thanks for all of your support over the years.

— Steve

As these newsletters can cover many subjects, let me know of topics you would like to see addressed.

Scholarships

As part of my ongoing commitment to photographic education, there is one student scholarship spot in many of my classes. Please pass the word along.

For discounted time studying with me, keep in mind my Mentoring Program.

Redwood Forest. Russian Gulch State Park. Mendocino. 1979.

I fell in love with the Mendocino coast early on in my photographic career. I assisted a workshop with my friend Ralph Putzker in about 1979 and have gone back many times. Over the years I have taught my own workshops there and made many photographs I am proud of. However, this early image with my then new medium format Mamiya RB67 has remained one of my favorites.

I’m offering an unmatted 14-inch-wide print of this photograph for $195. Larger prints can be ordered. This print at this price is offered through January 31. I'll be taking orders until then, and shipping them out by February 15, 2025. The image reverts to its normal price after that, $800 for an 11x14, $1500 for a 16x20 print.

Lightscape Magic. Golden Gate Park. San Francisco. 2025

The magic of the Lightscape installation in the Golden Gate Park’s Botanical Garden was quite a visual treat.

THE VIEW FROM HERE
by Stephen Johnson

Updates, New Studio, Renovation and Fundraising

After receiving the news that the City of Pacifica wanted my studio and gallery space back, most of my efforts turned to how I could best use the gallery space through the rest of 2025. I decided that it was time to pull together work that I had always intended to show, but had never got around to gathering, printing, or put display. I also felt a need to reflect on ProDemocracy/ProParks protests here in Pacifica and San Francisco which became the June Resist! show.

Closing Gallery, New Studio

I want to keep connected to Art Center, need a place to do small classes, and to meet clients, so another adventure begins. Although the space was in rough shape, rennovation is undwerway and shaping up.

I have decided to stay at the Pacific Center for the Arts by renting a studio space to contunie my teaching and general work, while moving much of the archives, bigger equipment and furniture home. I am renting out a half studio 488 sq foot workspace here at the Pacifica Center for the Arts. Moving from almost 4000 sq ft to 488 sq ft. is obviously very challenging. The new space is Studio 15, at the same address, 1220 Linda Mar Blvd. Much as I had to do 21 years ago when I moved into Suites 5-7 at the Art Center, I need to make this a nice space, imbued with a good spirit to work, good walls to hang a few prints, and a feeling of a professional space to teach. Renovation is underway on the space, electrical upgrades, resurfaced walls/paint and newly re-surfaced floor.

Restortion/Move Help Needed

I hope to raise some funds for this move and restoration with a budget of about $12,000. Please reach out if you can help, It’s a great time for print purchases. Let me know know what prints you might like to acquire, and support this studio change at the same time. I can negotiate discounts.

It is a great time to make offers for discounted print deals

Books, Books, and More books

With the consolidation for my galleries and studio into the small studio, and the consequent need to clear space at home, my extensive book collection has become an issue–an issue of space.

As a boy I fell in love with books. They were my transport to other life possibilities and ways of living. Books saved me. I never dreamed I would make books. But I did, and am still filled with the wonder of that. As income increased I indulged my love of books to the point that there are now 1000s in my library. They were my archival insurance against a culture that might fall apart, a sense that I could then yet hold onto the richness of our culture and thought. But now, with my country and culture under threat, I still need the space.

The number of books had long since become too much. I largely ignored the sagging book shelves and books piling up. Now, after 26 years of having a fair amount of space outside my home, my book collecting habit and indulgence has become a real space problem. I am now giving away most of the books it seems I will never get to reading, and those I will be unlikely to re-read. The photo books are another matter.

Much to Give Away

There is much that cannon move and need new homes. Desks, bookshelves, work tables, lights, old printers are all on the give away lists. Any digital tech archive could acquire many artifacts I simply no longer have room for. My 1997 Iris Realist printer may be the best example of what the right person might consider a treasured piece of photo tech history.

Looking Back at 2025

2025 was certainly full of printing and exhibition building. I’ve featuted seven photographic exhibitions this year., and all; but two were my original work. This is a record I am very proud of and I am somewhat amazed. Two of the shows are the last of my Guest Photographers installations, Jeff Schewe’s Antarctica in Black and White and Edward Stone’s Five Decades Chasing Light and Shadow.

The other exhibitions were drawn from current events, like the Resist! show, past bodies of work gathered together and shown for the first time, and the two stage reveal of my new Urban Eden show on Golden Gate Park. In April I pulled together the first 20 print preview of the Golden gate Park work and then expanded to 50 prints in December.

2025 Exhibtions at Stephen Johnson Photography

• March: Jeff Schewe’s Antarctica in Black and White.

• April: A 20 print preview of my Urban Eden Golden Gate Park exhibition was created and displayed for the for Silicon Valley Open Studios and beyond.

• June: The Resist show was assembled from the protest signs I had been making and photographs of the 2025 protests in Pacifica and San Franciscio.

• July: A few years back I had started a set of new and finished prints from my 1982-2024 Western Artifacts Series. As I gathered work together, making a new set of matched prints, the older film work and newer digital work meshed well with my style and the subject matter weaving them together. I was very pleased to hang this work.

• August: I had always intended to do a show of what I called my Rock and Roll series, but had never gotten to it. It was a pleasure going through the files and putting the show together. In some cases, my improved editing skills and software improvements made the photographs so much better than they might have been. Eventually it became clear the Rock and Roll was not the proper name as I was featuring heroines of mine like Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris and Tracy Chapman. So “Rock and Roll” became “On Stage” together with its catalog.

• September/October: Ed Stone: Five Decades Chasing Light and Shadow. I had been interested in my friend Edward Stone’s photographs for years, watching him grow and develop his own unique photographic perspective. So it was, with pride that I offered Ed a show and helped him print it into a fine looking body of black and white prints.

• October/November: 50 Years of Portraits garthered many photograpgraphs I long loved into what I came to believe was cohesive view of how I saw people in my life and held sacred their images. Again, I always intended to show this work, and I’m so glad I got to it.

• December 2025/January 2026: Expanded Golden Gate Park Exhibition Urban Eden in 50 Photographs, with its new Exhibit Catalog,

Looking back on the year, I am very proud of this string of shows, It is far beyond what I would have imagined I could do, and kind of fits with the history of my career. I have often dreamed up more than I could realistically do, and then somehow made much of those dreams happen nonetheless. Sometimes these efforts were scaled down versions of my imaginations, sometimes they grew and became more. It feels a bit like the definition of an artistic life.

The Four New Books during 2025

Catalogs from the recent exhibitions are now available in my gallery and online.

Prints in the Gallery

There are always new prints available to see in the gallery, from the Hale Telescope, to the Golden Gate Park Project, to the evolving Animal Series and new selections in the discounted print bins.

Current Exhibitions

The current exhibitions in the gallery include the Golden Gate Park project expanded now to 50 Photographs and continuing in the main gallery is my Life Form exhibition.

Visiting the Gallery

My galleries and studio are generally open by appointment, but I am often there 10am–5pm on weekdays. Write to inquire or call 650 355-7507 to schedule an appointment.

I hope you can come by the gallery and see the original prints in the Life Form Gallery and its Life Form Portfolio. I invite you to join me on a workshop, rent lab space, or just say hello and let me know what you are up to photographically and what you might like to see me offer. I value your input.

Virtual Educational Experiences

Virtual Classes and Lectures, online live classes on various topics with limited space and Q&A sessions, are now a regular part of my workshop program. Critiques are now virtual.

Virtual Classes

My virtual classes program, launched in 2020, has allowed me to reach students around the world. I remain committed to offering great courses whether in person or virtually. See what satisfying experiences students have had on my workshops by exploring Workshop Testimonials. 

Virtual Mentoring

Set up time for me to help with your photographic work, remote or in-person. Mentoring Program.

Virtual Consulting

With all of our busy schedules and limited budgets, destination workshops or classes become a challenge, but many of you still have questions you need answered, or feedback on some new work. I want to remind you of my Virtual Online Consulting Program. This service allows all of you out there around the globe to consult online, live, on technical, aesthetic and workflow issues.

Virtual Mentoring/Consulting

Existing Online Tutorials

My Essays and Tutorials from the past couple of years can now be found on my Newsletter Archive.

Photo Chats

I’ve been doing weekly virtual Photo Chats with groups of photo friends to keep everyone encouraged to keep working, creating a forum to share and problem-solve. I’ve now built a webpage on the chats. Let me know if you would like to join us.

Most every Tuesday morning since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, I have been doing weekly virtual Photo Chats on Zoom with groups of photo friends. They are casual, virtual get-togethers, and have created a little community with regular sharing, guest presentations, demos, and photo feedback. Let me know if you would like to join us.

Many of my mentoring students have wanted help with their printing, often to make sure they can produce a specific print. Consequently, my Print Mentoring Program sets up a 2-hour time slot and the production of a finished print, all with the tutorial video of how we produced the print together. Prints can be up to 16x20 and on either Hahnemühle Museum Etching or Photo Rag Pearl paper. Fee is $500. Email for more information and to set up times. 

Print On Demand Book Projects over the last few years

Click on the book covers above to learn more and purchase.

I finished three new books in 2023. Water: A Photographic Portrait launched the winter, and the new Cliffside Peregrines and Fauna books were finished at the end of the year.

I sold out of the first run of the Fauna book and have reordered all three of the new books for the studio stock.

The links here go to my printer Magcloud, where you can order them directly.