Lynn Johnson has had international success for her photography documenting the disadvantaged, but in a conversation with Ohio University students Tuesday, she stressed the importance of occasionally putting the camera down.
Johnson, who received a Masters of Fine Arts from OU in 2001, spoke at Alden Library with approximately 150 students from various fields of study, ranging from photojournalism to medicine.
The exhibit, titled “Pain, Death & Healing: Images from the Lynn Johnson Collection,” will be on display on the fourth floor of the library through the end of December, showcasing photographs of healthcare in the United States.
However, Johnson has photographed subjects nationally and internationally, winning the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Coverage of the Disadvantaged.
Tracy Marx, chair and associate professor of Family Medicine at the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, moderated the panel, which included Johnson and Stan Alost, assistant director of the School of Visual Communication and curator for the exhibit.
But it was students, faculty members and staffers from hospice organizations in the audience who generated much of the conversation, leading to a lengthy discussion about a photographer’s role when documenting people in hospice.
“I just think that one of the most important things a photographer can do is to listen — maybe not to raise your camera to your eye, but to listen to the stories of the people you’re documenting,” Johnson said.
Photographers must find a balance between listening and documenting, Alost said, noting that if Johnson had always been listening, she wouldn’t have developed such a notable collection of photographs.
Marx, who works in hospice care in addition to her job at OU, contrasted Johnson’s photography experience with her own medical experience and why she chose to work with hospice patients.
“These people are going to die with or without me,” Marx said. “If I can make a difference and make it easier for a family member and allow them to die with some peace and dignity ... this is really what life's about.”
Johnson made clear that every one of her photographs has a story.
“For every image that sits on (the exhibit wall), there are many, many more that sit inside of me … and then you have to ask yourself what you’re going to do with those,” Johnson said.
bv111010@ohiou.edu
