Esther Johnson is an artist filmmaker and photographer who takes a poetic approach to documentary and narrative through moving image, audio and photography. She unearths extraordinary, resonant stories that would otherwise remain hidden or ignored, often focusing on the underdog in contemporary culture. Recurring themes include personal histories, heritage, tradition, folklore, regeneration and precarious futures. Her films and photography explore architectural vernaculars and the inhabited environment, intimately conveying the uneasy relationship between her protagonists and their respective surroundings. Minutely composed and paced imagery is juxtaposed with soundscapes that mix voiceovers with field recordings.
Work is made for exhibition and cinema screening through individual projects, commissions and residencies. Support for her work includes: Arts Council England; BBC; The British Council; Film London; LAFVA; the National Endowment for the Arts; the National Lottery; Skillset; Screen Yorkshire; Sheffield Contemporary Art Forum; Sound and Music and Yorkshire Arts.
Johnson's award-winning films and photography have exhibited internationally in 30 countries in galleries and art fairs including, Tate Modern; Tate Britain; BFI; ICA, London; Science Museum, London; FACT, Liverpool; Cornerhouse, Manchester; Site Gallery, Sheffield; Zoo Art Fair, London; Istanbul Biennial; Sotheby’s, New York; Istanbul Biennial; Toronto Fashion Week and the Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, plus film festivals and special events including, London Film Festival; Raindance; IDFA; MadCat Film Festival, San Francisco and NASA, California. Her work has appeared on television, and in adapted versions for radio, and her writing has featured in arts publications.
In addition to her film and photographic work, Johnson curates film programmes, and is former Director and Curator of Hull Film and its Hull International Short Film Festival. She is also Senior Lecturer in Film and Media Production at Sheffield Hallam University and has delivered workshops in Hull, London, Sheffield, Buffalo, NY and Bangkok, Thailand.
HINTERLAND (2002) portrays a community living (literally) on the edge of Europe's fastest-eroding coastline. The plight of an historic East Yorkshire market is documented in A STREET NAMED HUMBER (2004). LENOX (also 2004) maps the psychogeography of one of Buffalo's oldest hotels, juxtaposing faded Art Deco with shabby retro Americana. PLAYBACK (2005) comprises an unique twenty-four-hour time-lapse through 360º of Sheffield landscape. TUNE IN (2006) reveals the fascinating, hidden world of Radio HAM operators and their overlooked but vital place in society. CELESTIAL (2007) draws upon a fascination with the vast canvas of the sky. YALDA (2007) is a dramatic and colourful journey into the narrative of a woman's tangled past. HIGHWAY HOME (2008) is a contemplative, static study of an unlikely landmark in an unlikely place. ELEVATION (2009) is an unique portrait of Park Hill estate, Europe's largest listed building, created during an eclipse period between clearance and reinvention. CLOSE UP (2010) an 18 x 25 metre photographic mosaic artwork, which includes around 2000 images of portraits of 500 Sheffield school children, commissioned by Sheffield Children's Festival. Another project completed in 2010 includes, ANALOGUE KINGDOM a documentary portrait on Gerald Wells and his wonderful museum of wireless radios and televisions.
Johnson was nominated for the 2008 UK Northern Art Prize and in 2011 won the Philip Leverhulme Prize for Visual & Performing Arts for young scholars.
Sound on Film: Five Questions for Esther Johnson
