Derek Johnston

Professor of Photography
970-947-8151 | djohnston@coloradomtn.edu

Derek Johnston is the program director for the photography program in the Isaacson School at Colorado Mountain College. Derek’s fine art landscape work has been exhibited and collected throughout the United States including the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, IL. He has been honored with a Colorado Council on the Arts Grant in Visual Arts and is included in the critically acclaimed anthology, Photography’s Multiple Roles: Art, Market, Document, Science, published by the Museum of Contemporary Photography.

Derek’s work is inspired by the beauty and complexity of the natural world. The product of this inspiration has various manifestations. Portfolios include traditional landscapes, studies in natural history, and conceptual works based on landscape issues and natural forms. Derek is no stranger to adventure and has spent over two decades wandering and exploring wild places in search of images and inspiration.

Derek matured as a photographer in the age of film and still uses traditional photographic processes on certain portfolios. With his Fourteener project, Derek took on the arduous task of photographing all of Colorado’s fourteen thousand foot peaks with a 4×5 view camera and black and white film. A sense of idealism and commitment to revealing more than just the geography of these majestic mountains resulted in over 15 years of climbing and photographing. Working in all seasons with extremely variable weather conditions, Derek has spent countless days upon end in high places waiting for the perfect combinations of light and weather.

Derek was awarded CMC Spring Valley Faculty of the Year in 2015. He is a member of the Society for Photographic Education and the American Society for Media Photographers.

 

See more work at derekjohnstonimages.com