Today’s Corona Times features Columbia-based photographer John Allen who has used photography for therapy, art, and as a business endeavor.
Welcome John!
JASPER: Can you tell us about your background, John? Where did you grow up and go to school and what part of the city do you live in now and how long have you been there?
JOHN ALLEN: I have lived in Columbia my whole life, but my parents met in the military and I have family all over. Growing up, I went to Hammond School and then later attended Dreher High School. After that, I went to Midlands Technical College with ideas of being a history teacher, but I ended up in family business. Since then, I’ve been working at the university. I’ve been living on the Western Front (West Columbia) for about 17 years now.
JASPER: How did you get into photography -- when and where? Did you train or are you self-taught?
JOHN ALLEN: When I was teenager, I was hit by a car while biking and had to learn how to walk again. It was a near death experience that left quite an impact on me over the years (no pun intended). I shot a lot of photography from travels in the UK and Ireland using old SLR cameras and then stopped for a long time. About ten years ago, I started working in a design department and learned a bunch of new tricks.
Prior to that, a dear friend of mine died and I spent a few years doing things I wouldn’t normally do; making photos again, art, being a little more adventurous, and social. Someone told me it was called exposure therapy. There’s a lot of people who think art therapy is nonsense, but I can tell you it helps tremendously – I am living proof. It was really life changing for me.
JASPER: Who are your inspirations?
JOHN ALLEN: Trey Ratcliff is probably the most prominent photographer I’ve followed. He’s known for HDR landscapes and the like. He was based in Austin, Texas and then eventually moved to New Zealand. He’s amazing. I follow a bunch of other photographers on the Viewbug photo community and a few around town, but that’s about it. I don’t really compare or compete with anyone, I just kind of like doing my own thing. Most of the time I take my camera with me while hiking and biking. It’s more of an activity for me and not just taking photos.
JASPER: What type of photography do you mostly practice? What challenges you most?
JOHN ALLEN: Well, I have my work-work and then there’s my solo stuff I suppose. Most of the work I do on my own is geared toward a wide variety of photo art, landscapes, portraits, and local events. I have a home studio and sometimes work on photo projects there as well but not as often. I also enjoy doing digital photo restoration.
The most challenging photography for me is probably photo restoration and night photography. Night photography requires solid knowledge of manual controls and restoration requires a lot of time and effort. When you master manual, in whatever weather, you are going to get a lot of great shots.
JASPER: Can you tell us about one of your favorite gigs and why you enjoyed it?
JOHN ALLEN: Not any single one in particular, but perhaps maybe a culmination of things. I enjoyed doing community events here such as the Runaway Runway fashion shows. The Colajazz City of Stars show was also quite fun especially when you know a lot of the participants already. That was one was a fundraiser to raise money for children’s music education. Travel stuff. I’ve shot some landscapes in Canada and did a wedding there as well. I’ve also enjoyed collaborating with local artist friends.
I suppose a lot of people know me from sharing photos with Bohumila Augustinova and Diane Hare at the Anastasia & Friends art gallery on First Thursdays the past few years or so. There are many great memories captured from those days that might not otherwise have been recorded.
I have participated in some of those photo communities like Viewbug and was interviewed a few times. We used to spend weekends “photo hunting” around to submit to contests. It was fun watching how far our work would go in these online photo competitions. It was a lot of sheer boyish-enthusiasm for the sake of making photos. Sometimes, friends and I would go on adventures and make art out of just pure enjoyment. I’ve also had a few of my photos accepted into the Artfields competition as well.
Aside from that, I’d say my other favorite “gig” was documenting the Take the Flag Down Rally back in 2015 as an activist. I’ll always remember that day and when the flag came down.
JASPER: What do you do when you aren't behind the camera?
JOHN ALLEN: I really like cooking and I’ve hosted some dinner clubs around town. I’m very much an outdoors person. I like hiking, mountain biking with friends, and occasionally camping and good music. A lot of people don’t know this, but I also do graphic design and tech/web stuff as well as some video work.
Model Alexis Doktor
Subjects: Lee Ann Kornegay, Ann Smith Hankins, Diane Hare, John Allen (photog) Billy Guess, Bohumila Augustinova, Lauren Melton, Paul Kaufmann
all photos courtesy of the artist
subject Tom Hall
