I began photographing with a gift-camera at the age of 16. It wasn't until my last year at the University of Oregon that a class taught by Willie Osterman stimulated my interest in photography as a career. During Spring break he took several students to visit Ansel Adams, tour his home and darkroom and have our portfolios critiqued. That clinched it for me; I knew then what I wanted to do in life.

After college I apprenticed for several years in a large commercial photography studio in Portland. Following substantial years of travel that require more story telling than this space allows, I was hired by a Japanese publishing firm as the only foreign staff photographer. My assignments took me throughout Japan. It was a dream job in many respects, but in 1995 I decided that unless I was to live the rest of my life in Japan I had to establish myself in the USA. So I returned to my home town of Portland, Oregon and opened a commercial studio, taking on newspaper and magazine work and striving to accommodate anything that would fit through the doors of my studio.

Eventually I came to concentrate in architectural photography and also photography of artwork, specializing in color accuracy and lighting.

Aaron Johanson web site