Krisanne Johnson (b. 1976) grew up in Xenia, Ohio. She graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Colorado and pursued postgraduate work in visual communication at Ohio University. In 2006, she based herself in New York City as a freelance photographer.
Krisanne Johnson has been working on long-term personal projects about young women and HIV/AIDS in Swaziland and post-apartheid South African youth culture since 2006.
Her work has been awarded by World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International and the Best of Photojournalism. In 2009, she received the Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography for her project “I Love You Real Fast”.
In 2011 she received the W. Eugene Smith Grant for Humanistic Photography.
Krisanne’s fashion work was also exhibited at the International Center of Photography’s group show “Weird Beauty: Fashion Photography Now” as part of their year-long fashion series.
Her work has appeared in The Fader, D2 (Norway), D la Repubblica delle Donne, L’espresso, Io Donna, US News & World Report, TIME, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, among the others.
I LOVE YOU REAL FAST
by Krisanne Johnson. Swaziland. 2006-2011. Coming of age for Swazi girls is tough. A tiny African nation of one million, Swaziland is ruled by one of the world’s last remaining absolute monarchies. Its age-old tradition of polygamy and its relaxed … Continue reading
SMARTEEZ
by Krisanne Johnson. South Africa. March-April 2010. Soweto’s young fashionistas and the rising middle class youth. Since the days of Apartheid to its inevitable end watched closely by the world, South Africans have fought hard for collective change. This collective … Continue reading
OLD GERMAN BAPTISTS
by Krisanne Johnson. Ohio, USA. 2005. Today, the largest concentration of Old German Baptists live in the Ohio flatlands. Founded by Andrew Mack in 1708 in Schwarzenau, Germany, this religious sect emigrated to the United States in 1723 after facing … Continue reading