The story of Otis Johnson, the man who was adjusting to society after unlawfully being imprisoned for 40 years in various prisons in Upstate New York, went viral last November. Originally published as an online video feature on Al Jazeera, the short film was an instant hit with thousands of shares and comments. Although the spotlight on Johnson has since faded, a photography student from Parsons continues to work closely with him in order to document his life and his readjustment into society. Meet Kari Bjorn.
Bjorn, a self-described documentary-style photographer, was starting a project about incarceration for a class, when he was introduced to Johnson and began photographing him. The project has since extended beyond the class and the confinements of a graded assignment. What originally started as a typical “photographer documents subject” project has developed into a collaboration between the two after Bjorn gave Johnson a camera to take his own photographs.
“There isn’t a passive bone in his body,” Bjorn said about Johnson. “He’s just all about talking to people and getting to know them, and I figured it just didn’t really make sense to go further with him as this passive subject in a project.”
Their hundreds of photographs offer insight into a world of a man rediscovering a place that is familiar while simultaneously being brand new.
Placing the camera in Johnson’s hands has allowed viewers access to an even more personal look into his life. Johnson takes many pictures of his family who he only recently reconnected with.
He’s passionate about providing help and housing for the homelessness so he photographs their lives. He even dabbles in self portraiture – most recently with a selfie that he took of himself through a mirror. Johnson’s photos are very much indicative of his life now, while Bjorn explains that he tries to focus on his past and explore his lengthy, unlawful conviction. At present, Bjorn and Johnson are unsure whether their collection of photographs should be viewed as a presentation or a photo essay.
To Bjorn, a documentary style photographer has more leeway when it comes to creating than a photojournalist, as in the work that he enjoys doing “you can’t go in with the morals of an unbiased journalist, you have to have a passion for what you’re doing.”
“I will tell Otis to pose for me,” Bjorn said.
Many things have changed for Otis Johnson since his Al Jazeera feature, but he remains the same passionate, kind-hearted and positive spirit, all documented through these photographs.
“I don’t think any project, any picture, any single thing is going to change anything individually now. So I’m hoping this project will mainly just be a paddle in the ship sailing the right direction,” Bjorn said.
Follow @karibjtho on Instagram to view his ongoing project with Otis Johnson.
