Sat 4/22 @ 2PM
While music photographer Pat Johnson is from Cleveland, you wouldn’t have seen his face around local concerts. He took a photography class at Midpark High School, the briefly attended Tri-C, the former Cooper School of Art and eventually Ohio University.
But in 1971, he dropped out of OU, saying he was “itching to put everything I was learning into practice.” So he moved to San Francisco, and he’s been based in the Bay area ever since.
That city’s vibrant music scene gave him the opportunity to build his portfolio by shooting its vast array of superstar acts, both in the studio (his preferred milieu) and onstage, including Journey, the Grateful Dead, Santana and Jefferson Airplane. In fact, through a fortunate encounter, he shot Journey’s first show. He built his contact list in a city at had a thriving music scene and, just as important, music business. Taking over as official backstage photographer for the Bay Area Music Awards gave him access to an even wider range of artists. He was later tabbed to shoot radio station-sponsored festivals and other big events.
Hs contacts served as a springboard to shoot decades of music including rock, metal, hip hop and blues. He did promo sessions for record labels and shot hundreds of album covers. He’s photographed the Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Yoko Ono, Tupac Shakur, Davis Bowie, Willie Nelson, and the list goes on and on.
You can browse through a huge selection of those photos in his book Blue Collar Photographer which shows off the full range of his work: stage shots, informal snapshots and studio sessions.
Johnson is coming home to promote his book, and he’ll be talking at Mac’s Backs on Coventry where he’ll be in conversation with Cleveland-based music photographer and writer (and CoolCleveland editor) Anastasia Pantsios. The event is free and open to all. Books will be available for purchase and signing, of course.
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