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Jason Miccolo Johnson is a national award-winning independent photojournalist. His photographs are in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the St. Louis Art Museum, and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. He is the author of the bestselling book Soul Sanctuary: Images of the African American Worship Experience (foreword by Gordon Parks).
Johnson has taken exclusive photos of some of the world's most recognizable persons including President Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Princess Diana, Halle Berry, Colin Powell, and Oprah Winfrey. His assignments have included The White House, U.S. Supreme Court, Congress, two Olympics, Tokyo, Paris, Jamaica and an open heart surgery. He has photographed six U.S. presidents and 15 heads of state.
With 45 years of professional photographic experience, Johnson’s images have appeared in over 50 books, 65 magazines, and many national newspapers. Some of the books include Sweet Home Café: A Celebration of African American Cooking, Everyday Beauty, Picturing Children, Through the African American Lens, Songs of My People, Standing in the Need of Prayer, Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, and Committed to the Image. Selected magazines include Time, Essence, Financial World, Smithsonian, Glamour, Black Enterprise, and Washingtonian.
In addition to participating in major exhibitions on four continents, including four Smithsonian Institution exhibitions, his photos have been seen in feature films and documentaries such as The Black Godfather; Boss: The Black Experience in Business; Guess Who and W.E.B. DuBois: A Biography in Four Voices. He has appeared nationally on CNN, C-SPAN Book TV, NPR, and Radio One. He has lectured at the Library of Congress, Union Theological Seminary, St. Louis Art Museum and numerous universities.
In 2002, Johnson was the visionary behind a special tribute to his mentor, legendary photographer Gordon Parks, on Parks’ 90th birthday. He brought together 90 of America’s top photographers in Harlem for an historic group photo and dinner in honor of Parks.
Johnson formerly worked for USA TODAY, ABC Network News and Good Morning America. Since 1990, he has been the official annual convention photographer for the National Association of Black Journalists. He is a recipient of an ArtMaker award from the HistoryMakers, the Photographer of the Year award from The Exposure Group, and an Outstanding Alumni Award from Howard University.
Johnson taught classes in Journalism and Mass Communications for four-and-a-half years at Savannah State University and is currently working on his 45-year retrospective book and traveling exhibition.