Research: Johnny Joo

Johnny Joo is America photojournalist from Ohio who began taking photographs at the age of sixteen. In order to produce his images Joo explores the world around him, typically focusing on the wilder, untamed aspects of the environment, as well as those that have been left behind.

The subject of Joo’s images are run down, abandoned buildings or areas that have been long forgotten about. The environments have been discarded and left to decay by people when they are deemed to have no further use. Instead of repurposing the structures, they have been deserted and left for nature to obscure them from view. I feel Joo’s images related directly to my theme of waste, as they show how quickly society abandons things when their purpose runs out. Many of these structures could have been converted into something else, of even taken down to recycle the materials, but instead they sit there, hidden from view ad wasted. I also feel areas like this would be an ideal setting for my own photographs, especially if like Melissa Moore I decide to model charity shop clothes. There would be a clear juxtaposition between the forgotten environment and the clothes, which have been given new life.

    

In terms of colour, Joo photographs environments that have neutral tones in them, and colours that emulate nature, for example browns, greens and greys. The majority of the photographs I have chosen to study have been taken outside in woodland, so the colours are very natural anyway. However there are remains of manmade structures in some of the images that have also taken on a faded neutral colour due to exposure. It is almost as if nature has claimed these buildings as their own as they grow around them, unwanted by humans. Even though the colours are neutral they are also very bold and vivid, making the environments very eye catching despite the decaying subject matter. It is almost as if Joo is enhancing the colours in the shots to show the subjects in a new light, giving them a sense of wonder and curiosity. They can be seen as exciting places to explore rather than the ruins that they actually are.

     

The compositions of Joo’s images are quite intense in the way that every inch of the frame is packed with a subject matter that is bold by nature. There are no bare spaces and the photographs show as much of the discarded areas as possible. From this it is clear that to Joo, the forgotten, hidden and the unwanted are the most important aspect of his work, and should be portrayed in their own right.

    

Studying Joo’s work has given me an insight into what can be considered waste, as well as other vocabulary I can associate with my theme, for example, unwanted, discarded and forgotten. I have seen how the ruins we leave behind can be transformed into something mysterious that captures our imaginations.