Alicia Johnson's portraits are a refreshing blend of classical workmanship and spontaneous impulse. There are no tricks— no double exposures or artistically blurred prints. They speak softly and honestly. But what you get is often more than what you see, at least at first glance. There is her own very Spanish signature—a close relationship with destiny and a timelessness that scorns commerce. And there are the wistful, brooding and explosive elements in her subjects which she helps shine through a tranquil facade. She works only in black and white because she finds it truer and more dramatic than color. And she works only with figures in the artistic world because that is the world she cares about. These portraits of writers are taken from a wider collection of artists of the world. They are from various countries because she believes art has no borders. These portraits were done by choice and not on commission.

—Robert Johnson

Biography

Born in Barcelona, Spain in 1961. In the summer of 1974, discovers and is fascinated by photography. Using her father's old equipment, she installs her first darkroom. Since then she prints her own black & white gelatin silver prints. In 1980 studies photography with Joan Fontcuberta at the C.E.I. in Barcelona and in 1983 photo composition and collage with America Sanchez. In the following years works as a fashion photographer in Barcelona, but gradually moves toward portrait photography. In 1989 marries writer Robert Johnson and starts living and working between Barcelona and Montreal. She photographs people in the artistic world as she moves between Europe and North America. In 1992 starts a reportage of the "Monumental" bull fight ring in Barcelona. Her photographs are published internationally.