Johnny Patience
Fine Art | Last Updated: April 4, 2024
I’m Johnny Patience, a Fine Art photographer based in the United States, where I live with my wife Rebecca Lily. I was born and raised in Europe and my love for photography has brought me to many countries around the world.
The foundation of my work is a combination of fine art, travel, and street photography. I shoot film exclusively and I love the whole process, from loading the camera to the feeling of excitement I get while downloading my scans or seeing silver gelatin prints develop in the darkroom. Film translates not just what I see but exactly how I see into an image.
I have two cameras (and a backup each) that I equally love: a Hasselblad and a Leica M. Both are film cameras. I shoot color with my Hasselblad, because of the beautiful tones of medium format film, and B&W with my Leica, because I love the punch and the grain of Tri-X in 35mm. I only shoot one focal length, a 50mm (and a 50mm equivalent on medium format).
Both of my cameras are purely mechanical; they don’t need batteries and they don’t have built-in light meters. This makes me feel very connected with my photography. I don’t simply hold a technical device and press a button, I really have to create an image. I have to do everything manually and I have to do it right with every single frame to not lose an image. And that’s the beauty of the manual process. It feels like craftsmanship to me.
My camera bag currently contains the following:
Leica M2
Leica Summicron-M 50mm f/2
Leica M-A
Leica Summicron-M 50mm f/2
Hasselblad 501CM
Carl Zeiss Planar T* 80mm f/2.8
Hasselblad 503CW
Carl Zeiss Planar T* 80mm f/2.8
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Tri-X 400
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