Most of Michael Johnson's evocative photographs are landscapes from a "driftless" area of Illinois, which escaped the last Midwestern glacier. These visions of the wooded beauty in Iowa state parks, sweeping vistas, lone trees along curving gravel roads, and peaceful farm fields seem to exist in a timeless, quiet zone. These scenes appear paradoxically both strange and hauntingly familiar to our common memories and dreams, however urban our origins and experiences. Appropriate to Johnson's captured images of the "fresh beauty of the natural world" are his superb photographic techniques. Made from large negatives in a view camera, Johnson's work achieves a richness of tone and precision of detail. Born near Chicago, Johnson formerly worked as a commercial photographer and college teacher. Although he still occasionally conducts workshops, he is now well recognized as an independent artist with many of his works in museums and private collections such as The Art Institute of Chicago, The Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, AR and the San Jose Museum of Art. Johnson lives in a rural area southeast of Galena and Mt. Carroll. His studio is located on a family tree farm where he and his wife operate a small sawmill and sustainable hardwood lumber business. To view more of Michael’s work visit his personal website at http://www.michaeljohnsonphotography.com