JAMIE JOHNSON | Irish Travelers

Jamie Johnson | Irish Travelers

I have spent my entire career photographing children all over the world. For the last several years, I have focused my eyes on the “Irish Travellers” that live in caravans on the side of the road or in open fields throughout Ireland. The Traveller community is an Irish nomadic indigenous ethnic minority. There is no recorded date as to when Travellers first came to Ireland.

This is lost to history, but Travellers have been recorded to exist in Ireland as far back as history can be recorded. Even with their great history, they live as outsiders to society and face unbelievable racism growing up. As a mother of two daughters, I became highly interested in the culture and traditions and the lives of these children. I have spent many years traveling back and forth to Ireland to document these incredible children.

The experience I had photographing the grit and beauty that is the everyday life of a Traveller child is one that inspires me every day. Their deep respect for family and cultural values is refreshing, one that can be quite difficult to find in an age with the convince of social media. Not immediately accepting of an outsider holding a large camera, I took my time getting to know and understand these faces representing the new generation.

My ever-growing fascination with children of today has led me all over the world, capturing their innocence or, in some cases, loss of, in its most raw form.
Unlike most children, they cannot refer to a history book to learn about their ancestors; a part of this journey was being able to document an era that is so different from any other I have photographed. It is one that is and will always be rapidly changing; every time I visit, it is a whole different world, yet with the relationships I have been lucky enough to make, it seems to feel like I never left. I am exponentially grateful for the young people documented and have come in contact with over my years.

“With an honest heart, I hope to show that these beautiful children have great hopes and goals and work every day to reach their dreams no matter how hard they have to fight racism and stereotypes placed on them for centuries. A child is an innocent, happy, precious part of the world that should be loved, accepted, and encouraged no matter where or how they live.”

JAMIE JOHNSON

Born in Brooklyn, raised in NYC and SF. Jamie Johnson is a photographer specializing in fine art and documentary projects around children.
Jamies’ passion for the faces of the next generation has been a lifelong focus. She has traveled the world, capturing images of children and childhood around the globe. From Laos to Cuba, from the Amazon to Mongolia, around the world and back, she has found universality in the world of children, and her passion grows stronger with each new adventure. The lifestyles, cultures, and traditions of growing up around the world are closely examined in her photos, and each connection she makes with her young new subjects creates lifelong friendships with the families.
Her work has been exhibited internationally in galleries and museums in Los Angeles, New York, and Paris and published in dozens of magazines.

Jamies’ work is in the permanent collection of several American museums. She won the top 50 of Critical Mass in 2017 and 2019 and has a huge collection base of A-list celebrities. Her first monograph, “Growing Up Travelling,” was released Sept 2020 Published by Kehrer Verlag and has already won several awards for best photo book in 2020. She was recently named Photographer of the Year 2021 by PX3. Her wet plate collodion series, “Vices,” traveled the world in dozens of galleries, museums and is in the collection of America’s top art collectors.
Jamie currently lives in Los Angeles and has two daughters, Lillianna and Violet.

See the full article in Lens Magazine Issue #86