Murph Johnson is currently tabling at Art Basel Miami, where he’s seen Floyd Mayweather Jr. pass by at the ritzy international art fair every few minutes. But he’s more intent on capturing the everyday.
“I really just like to take photos of joy,” he said. “I like to see people in a natural element, conversing.”
Johnson’s story starts as a miracle baby in the South, born so prematurely that he was pronounced dead at birth. But he needed to breathe life himself before he could breathe life into the art world. Thanks to his mom, he not only survived but found his purpose—she was the family photographer and taught him how to use a camera during vacations. It wasn’t always his calling. Initially, Johnson aspired to preach due to his Baptist upbringing. Theology classes in his early childhood changed his mind.
Later on, his family moved to the suburbs of Richmond, Va. where he struggled to adapt early on to the new setting. Johnson certainly couldn’t imagine living in the hustle and bustle of New York City back then. Thankfully, he could fall back on his passion.
“Art was a safe haven for me, I will always be able to come home and be comfortable myself,” said Johnson. “And my friends were very comfortable with themselves. And that just gave me more reason to push forward.”
Photography not only brought him to New York City, but onto the front doorstep of the Black Wall Street Gallery in lower Manhattan, where he was shooting a well-known model for another project. Founded in Oklahoma, the art center commemorates the Greenwood neighborhood’s history of Black entrepreneurship prior to the Tulsa Race Massacre. One thing led to another and today, Johnson serves as the gallery’s director of media and content strategy.
“I work a lot with the artists on visual aspects of the gallery,” he said. “Right now we’re working on a library, different media, media checkpoints during the gallery to help patrons interact more with the work through a lot of social work for us, as far as getting the word out about Black Wall Street and being out and networking for us visibility aspects and bringing in different industries into fine arts.”
Beyond the gallery, Johnson is also planning a show in April and is working on a soon-to-launch brand for artists. He also highlights his work with GALA by GALERIE, a bi-annual event for an independent artist collective. And he teaches kids tech and crafts on the side.
As for his time in the city, Johnson is noticing his southern accent slipping away the longer he stays in the “Big Apple.” After all, New York City is a part of who he is.
“In Richmond, you’re usually by yourself at home—your neighbors are half an acre away,” said Johnson. “They’re not beside you, below you, above you. You have this sense of isolation at home.
“In New York, [when] I put my headphones on I don’t see anyone. I realize that I can escape within the chaos in New York. It’s beautiful.”
Murph Johnson can be found on Instagram @Wheresphi.
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https://bit.ly/amnews1
