Johnny's Blog

When I was invited to show a retrospective of my photographic work at Château Arnoux in 2021, it motivated me to dig into my archives which had been languishing for years in a (fortunately climate controlled) storage space. I discovered hundreds of negatives that I’d never even seen. It went like this: Go on location or into a studio on a film project. Snap a bunch of stills while working. Get the film processed, stash the negatives in storage, and move on to the next project. This went on for over 30 years until the digital age… I’m still scanning and tidying the images.

Herein...  a few photographs of my crews at work (or not) down through the decades and around the world.

Ricci, Prospero, and Gaetano.  Roma  2003

American Gothic. My mentor Steven T. Smith and his wife Martha - Williamsport PA  - 1976

Two weeks after Steve hired me for my first professional job in film, he sent me to Watkins Glen to shoot the US Formula One Grand Prix. I will be forever grateful.  Steven T. Smith 1948 - 2024. 

Waiting for Bowie - MTV crew at the US Festival, California - 1983

Back when MTV was all about music.

Self-shot with cinematographer Francis Freedland - "Lost in the Catacombs" - SPOE, Fox Television - Paris - 2004

Francis was a charismatic, heavy drinking, Parisian pirate, and a very talented cinematographer. We have filmed all over France and Italy together and almost died down in the Paris catacombs.

Gaffers - Hall & Oates "Say it isn't So"  New York City - 1983

David Bush - Visual Effects Supervisor - "Les Absintheurs" - Tuscany - 2005.   Photo: Caroline Zimmermann

Me with the Céline Dion crew - Studio Ferber, Paris - 1991   Photo: RP Sekon

Keith Carradine - "Terroir" - Tuscany - 2013   Photo: Federico Caponi

We filmed many of Keith Carradine's scenes for Terroir at Villa Petrolo in Tuscany. Between takes Keith was always talking story to the crew. 

Owen Bissell and Steve Searles - The Bear Whisperer - Mammoth Lakes - Discovery Network - 2011

With The Fleshtones - Paris - 1983

That's Director CD Taylor behind the camera and me in the middle.

Photographer Federico Caponi shoots a promotional still for "Terroir" - 2013

To create the multi-image movie poster for Terroir, actress Lina Otto returned with her skimpy panties to pose for a number of stills photographed by Warsaw based photographer Federico Caponi and his team.

What Stuntmen do at Lunch Hour - "Campus Man" - RKO/Paramount Pictures - 1986

After more than 45 years of filmmaking and hundreds of productions, and having lived in 5 different countries, everything becomes a bit of a blur. If I didn’t have these stills I wouldn’t remember half of these moments. And the sad part is, all the negatives that have been lost over the years, between moves, and floods and separations, the memories are lost as well.