Above Ground with Matt Johnson
Specialising in narrative imagery for people, places and brands, New York-based photographer Matthew Johnson seeks out moments of quiet in busy bustling cities.
His Above Ground 35mm series was taken at elapsed exposure in an attempt to capture places, and more specifically moments of a commute.
The portrait images appear as if watercolour and Johnson’s images use the haze of the exposure to delicately frame the backgrounds. This fusion of fine art and photography takes an unexpected journey — the commute — and transforms it into an elegant, painterly scene. The images also work to create an idea of what it’s like for the commuter, over time these scenes become so familiar that they blend together.
Specialising in narrative imagery for people, places and brands, New York-based photographer Matthew Johnson seeks out moments of quiet in busy bustling cities
Matt explains “When I’m composing a photograph, I concentrate a lot on shadows and highlights and I’m fascinated by the timeless feel of New York as a city”. Several of the images capture lower Manhattan taken from the Q line, which traverses the Manhattan Bridge and although faint, the famous skyline can be discerned from afar.
The original collection of images first appeared in Volume 13 of Cereal Magazine. Discover more of Matt’s work here.
