10/08/2025
Day 2 of takeover on the ASMP IG!
Hello from Day 2! My name is Duncan. Yesterday I posted about my introduction to photography through my mom and the art world. Today I will post about how I entered the commercial world.
AND JUST LIKE THAT, I TURNED PRO (not exactly…)
First and foremost I have to say , it’s WHO YOU KNOW (thank you and for asking me to do this).
My first job out of art school was a commercial photo lab, which is no longer in existence (thank you Kate from the ONI Gallery for the hook up). From there, I worked for Wonderdrug Records (a favorite record label of mine growing up), then a corporate sneaker company (who shall remain nameless), and then I got laid off…
The world was my oyster (I thought). I applied to hundreds of jobs and got nowhere until I was at a rock gig at TT’s and ran into my friend Dave Ward (Mass Art photo graduate, rocker, guy). He offered me an incredible opportunity to photograph Real Estate. This was my first foray into the Pro-Photography world and I am forever grateful for it (thanks Dave). I photographed condos and single family houses. Once in a while I would do a whole building. Dave taught me how to do the floor plans. Eventually I upped the game and got into 3D virtual tours through Matterport. I really like making this kind of work. It allows me to take my time composing the frame, choosing this and deciding that. It reminded me a lot of working with a large format camera.
From there, I expanded my repertoire photographing headshots, events, food, pretty much anything… and then… I made a movie…. (to be continued).
-Duncan Wilder Johnson
1. Real Estate picture, 2022
2. Real Estate picture, 2022
3. Real Estate Matterport video, 2025
4. Bonaparte, Magician, 2018 (portrait)
5. Diana, Voice Over Artist, 2016, Hakim, Jazz Musician, 2015, Peter, Entrepreneur, 2019 (portraits)
6. Ben Zabin, Magician, 2019 (portrait)
7. Mary Grant, President of Mass Art (event), 2023
8. Governor Healey at Mass Art (event), 2023
9. The Dude from Madam Secretary (event), 2019