Even in his photography, Johnson exhibits a collagist’s instinct for insertion and layering. Most of his photographs are centered on objects that he placed between himself and a scene as he found it. On occasion, though, he used the camera in a conventional way, simply collecting views of sights that drew his interest, such as a billboard advertising nothing or the word HELP on the underside of a boat. Photographs such as these are the field notes of a minutely attentive observer
Ray Johnson (1927–1995)
Mondrian's grave and playing card, Mount Lebanon Cemetery, Queens
spring 1992
Commercially processed chromogenic print
4 × 6
The Morgan Library & Museum. Gift of the Ray Johnson Estate, courtesy of Frances Beatty; 2022.2:133
© Ray Johnson / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Ray Johnson (1927–1995)
Billboard
summer 1992
Commercially processed chromogenic print
4 × 6
The Morgan Library & Museum. Gift of the Ray Johnson Estate, courtesy of Frances Beatty; 2022.2:27
© Ray Johnson / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Ray Johnson (1927–1995)
Palm frond on sand
winter 1992
Commercially processed chromogenic print
4 × 6
The Morgan Library & Museum. Gift of the Ray Johnson Estate, courtesy of Frances Beatty; 2022.2:10
© Ray Johnson / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Ray Johnson (1927–1995)
Hand, pier ruins, and Long Island Sound
23 August 1994
Commercially processed chromogenic print
4 × 6
The Morgan Library & Museum. Gift of the Ray Johnson Estate, courtesy of Frances Beatty; 2022.2:93
© Ray Johnson / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York