© Dawn Johnsen

© Dawn Johnsen

© Dawn Johnsen

Kate: How long have you been shooting for?
Dawn: I’ve been shoot for now about three years.

Kate: I feel like through your work you reveal an intimate personal look into teenage life. Your photos seem to capture a certain depth and seriousness about the subjects. How intentional, if at all, was that when you were shooting?
Dawn: With most, if not all, of my pictures I really wanted to capture just how much pressure there is on many girls these days to be perfect. I tried to tackle things that weren’t normally mentioned, or talked about freely such as anorexia or the fear of judgment. So my pieces were all intended to have a strong message of some sort.

Kate: What other pressures to you see or feel yourself? Besides those related to body image?
Dawn: The pressure to do well in every aspect of life, such as school or sports. I feel the big pressure because of my grades. I am an average student, my grades aren’t straight A’s and there is a huge pressure from my parents to get better grades so I can get into a good college. It’s really hard to juggle everything so I feel that’s the biggest pressure outside of body image for many young girls.

Kate: Your images portraying teenage girlhood are very different from those we often see. They say something different than typical portrayals of female adolescence. Do you agree?
Dawn: Yes. Girls during adolescence are normally confused and feel self-conscious about everything. And with the media, there is an eminence pressure to be thin or perfect. Many girls don’t really know how to deal with such pressures, so they tend to resort to unhealthy ways of dealing with it. Adolescence for girls is a time of fear and confusion therefore that’s what I tried to portray.

Kate: In your self-portrait, you have “stop looking” written on your hand. Was that for the picture or there already? What does it mean? Why did you choose to have it visible in the picture?
Dawn: The “stop-looking” was actually there to try and get me to keep my mind off of boys and to really start focusing on school. Yet, in the picture it has a world more of meaning. Many girls are self-conscious. They fear that everyone judges them. For me, I hate when people stare at me because I feel like I’m always being judged. So for the “stop looking” to be on the hand as I was covering my face and giving off the vibe of trying to hide from the world, which most girls tend to do in order to avoid judgment.

Kate: That’s great. I love the note to yourself on your hand. I’ll have to try that sometime. I agree though – it has a lot of meanings in the context of this photo. I’m just curious – what other messages would you reveal to the world if you could do several self-portraits and each time write something different on your hand?
Dawn: Not to be cliche but something along the lines of acceptance, maybe like “accept me”, or something to do with self image like “I am just me”. Something that gives more of a ‘I am strong’ feeling showing girls that it is ok to be seen.

Kate: What was it like shooting a self-portrait? How was it different from photographing others?
Dawn: Shooting a self-portrait is a lot harder logistically because especially on film, there are no mistakes so it was necessary for me to already have the correct focus and lighting. Plus with shooting other people, I can see their facial expressions whereas I can’t see mine. It is a lot harder shooting a self-portrait.

Kate: Are you working on any new projects at the moment? If so, what?
Dawn: Currently I have no new projects, but hopefully in 2009 I will begin my junior concentration and then will have a new topic. One of great inspiration for others, I hope.

Kate: What are your photography goals for the future?
Dawn: In college, I would love to pursue graphic design which has an element of photography. I feel that photography will be a big part of my life for a very long time.

Kate: Why do you think you are drawn to photography? What reasons? What does it do for you?
Dawn: Maybe its genetic, because I know that my dad LOVES taking pictures, and I feel that because I’ve grown up around the camera that’s why I’m so drawn to it. Before I started photography classes, I used to really feel like I saw the world through the lens of a camera. How something so simple, if framed and up on a gallery wall, would look so amazing. Photography gives me a sense of expression yet I feel that photography also presents me with the challenge of getting my ideas organized and then onto film. I really do feel that photography is my passion.

Kate: That’s interesting – the idea that it helps you organize your thoughts. Is it because it forces you to focus or because you see things differently?
Dawn: Mostly because I have so many ideas going on in my head that I have to narrow them down to try and get a specific focal point. When beginning a project I will have so many ideas that don’t necessarily correspond with each other so it’s the process by which I have to organize my thoughts that helps me get to a set idea for my work.

Kate: Are there any photographers in particular that inspire you?
Dawn: Annie Leibovitz. Her work is so powerful. How she manipulates the human body to create something so abstract. I love her work.