JW Johnston's Submission - Black & White Photography Awards 2019

Whether I'm photographing with an iPhone, a DSLR, or using sheet film with my Toyo 45AII Field Camera, I try to be consistent in my approach. I figured out, years ago, that my results seem to be more compelling on those days when I'm able to slow down, lose the agenda, and simply experience wherever I happen to be. The idea is to stop trying, to simply BE WHERE I AM, to open myself up, shedding self-conscious artistic notions On the good days, it's as if I'm becoming a part of my subject and it's becoming a part of me. Whether I'm in front of trees, a window curtain or a bridge abutment, a relationship emerges. I absorb the beauty and the beauty absorbs me.  I lose myself and find myself again.