Johnny Crawford is a visual storyteller and educator based in Atlanta, Georgia, who has documented the human spirit in 45 states and four continents for 36 years.
Johnny specializes in candid photographs that are inspiring and historical. His photojournalism approach to photography helps him produce excellent photographs out of routine subjects or situations. He has a passion for education stories, sports stories, and projects highlighting corporate responsibility.
Johnny was a staff photographer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) for over 28 years. During his tenure at the AJC, he photographed the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, 2004 G8 Summit of World Leaders, 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, GA; 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, and five U.S. Presidents.
He was the AJC beat photographer for Georgia Tech football from 2003 thru 2013 and NASCAR from 1990 thru 2013. He has photographed over 500 college and professional sporting events including football, basketball, baseball, soccer, gymnastics, track & field, golf, and swimming.
In 1994, Johnny was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He is the winner of the 2008 National Headliner First Place winner in Sports Photography, Georgia Associated Press 2008 Picture of the Year Winner, The Best of Cox Newspapers 2008 Sports Photography Winner, and 2008 Georgia Press Association First Place in Sports Photography and 2012 APME Georgia Newspapers Award in Sports Photography.
Johnny has an M.A. in Photojournalism from Ohio University and degrees in Psychology and Public Relations from Morehouse College.
Johnny taught photography at Grady High School, Marietta City Schools Adult Education Program, Clark Atlanta University, The University of Georgia and Middle Georgia State University. He was an Artist in Residence at the Tubman Museum in Macon, Georgia. At the Tubman, he has a permanent exhibit of thirty black and white portraits entitled “Leading the Way Macon’s Trailblazers and Activists.
He is currently documenting Black soldiers and nurses that served in the Vietnam War.
He teaches private photography lessons in the homes of clients in the metro Atlanta through his company, Privatephotographylesson.com