Review

"Branch with Peach Leaves," Digital Photograph.

Julie Johnson

11 a.m.-2 p.m and 5:30-10 p.m.

Rm 39
10561 Mission Road
Leawood, KS
913.648.7639

Hours: 11 a.m.-2 p.m and 5:30-10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m and 5:30-10 p.m. Saturday.
Runs through: Feb. 7.

Artist's site: http://www.juliejohnsonphotography.com
Gallery site: http://www.rm39.com

True, it's supposed to snow today and just about every school district around is calling off classes. But in the words of Carl Spackler, "I don't think the heavy stuff's gonna come down for a while now."

That means there's plenty of time to make a run down to Mission Farms, grab lunch — or coffee, or both — and catch Julie Johnson's photography at the southern outpost of Rm 39. If you hurry, you can also see her work at VanDeusen Photography in KCMO. (That show runs through mid-March).

There's an important distinction to make here, though: Johnson's photographs are to be hurried to, not hurried through. There's a sense of calm pervading her work, and to speed through a viewing would be a disservice to artist, art and viewer alike.

Those who rush by too fast might even mistake Johnson's choice of medium; in many cases (for example, Branch with Peach Leaves, pictured above), her digital photographs could be taken for Impressionist paintings.

It wasn't always that way. Johnson spent years as an accountant (also working with digits, one could say) before returning to photography ... film photography, that is.

Beginning work occurred in a black and white lab, followed by years working with color slide film, she writes. Slowly the digital world is becoming familiar.

That familiarity shows in the way Johnson manipulates her images — not merely playing with the digital tools at her disposal, but using them to achieve a particular, purposeful effect.

There's nothing wrong with "Hmm, I wonder what this will do." That's how progress gets made. But there's a clear difference between manipulation for its own sake and manipulation as a means to an artistic end.

Johnson is clearly on the latter road ... and speaking of roads, you'd better get on it if you want to beat the snow.

Johnson's

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