Mark Johnson
(Australia, England 1946– )
- Title
- Coogee II 1983-84, from the series Sydney Beaches
- Year
- 1983-1984
- Media category
- Photograph
- Materials used
- gelatin silver photograph
- Dimensions
-
40.7 x 50.7cm image; 50.6 x 60.6cm sheet
- Signature & date
- Signed and dated l.c. verso, pencil, "...1983-84/ MARK JOHNSON".
- Credit
- Gift of the artist 1993
- Accession number
- 85.1993
- Copyright
- © Mark Johnson
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
Mark Johnson's practice spans both an informal documentary style and a more formalised aesthetic that arranges individual images within typological series. After graduating in medicine from the University of Sydney in 1970, Johnson later studied in London and became interested in photography. He held his first solo exhibition in 1978 at the Australian Centre for Photography. Johnson focused his camera lens on Sydney's beaches and buildings - from Coogee to Glebe and beyond - to systematically document various locations around the harbour and the city. The 'Sydney Beaches' series includes 17 photographs and the 'Sydney Buildings' series includes 24 photographs. Each beach image features a band of sky, a foreshore building and bathers strewn across white sand. By producing each image in black and white and repeating various compositional elements, Johnson asks the viewer to look beyond the obvious, to discover differences among similarities.
- Bibliography (2)
-
Sandra Byron (Australia) (Author), City by the Sea, Sydney, 1993. cat.no. 61
Jorge Calado (Author), À Prova de Água Waterproof, Lisbon, 1998, illus.. plate no. 163
- Exhibition history (2)
-
City by the Sea: Mark Johnson's Sydney photographs, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 21 Sep 1993–07 Nov 1993.
Waterproof - One Hundred Days Festival - Expo 98, Lisboa EXPO 98, 27 Feb 1998–31 May 1998.
