johannmarx | photography

“If you want to succeed in your photography, whatever that means to you, then you need to fuel it with passion and hard work. If photography is the air you breathe, the thing that distracts you and not the thing from which you are distracted, if it’s the thing you most want to do, to talk about, to spend your spare time on, and if you work harder at it than you’ve ever worked on anything, you will make it. Why? Because passion, true passion is in short, short supply these days. As is hard work. Long ago we abandoned the idea of having a life’s work, a calling; those that still do their work from that sense of calling or vocation, will be unbeatable.”
– David DuChemin

Photography

I fell in love with photography in 2005 when a friend of mine made the big mistake of letting me play with his Canon EOS 20D digital camera. At that point in time photography wasn't even on my radar of interests, but from the first time I looked through that viewfinder, the bug bit me and I haven't been able to stop since then. Shortly after that, my husband bought me a 20D for my birthday and it was all downhill from there - we got our studio lights at the end of 2007, set up a little home studio and we've been doing shoots afterhours and over weekends ever since.

A great South African photographer, Mark Thomas (R.I.P), once said: "Judge photography by the way it makes you feel, not by what others say". When I read that, it stuck with me and I realised that's exactly how I felt about photography. From the small amount of time I got to spend in Mark’s company (we bought our lights from him), he made a profound impact on me as a photographer.

As photographers, we're expected to adhere to this set of rules - rules for exposure, composition, colour usage... The problem is that I've never been one for sticking to rules and convention, so I took these rules and threw them right out the window when I got started. And I think that has done me well.

As a result, I tend to take photographs that aren't always everyone's cup of tea, especially the elitists, but in my opinion it's not about how you make the shot, it's about how the shot makes you feel and not about whether it was taken right, but whether it takes YOU - gets you thinking, evokes an emotion, makes an impact...

If I can do that with my photographs, then I've succeeded in what I set out to do.

Inspiration

I always find it so difficult to explain to people what type of photography I like doing. "Weird" just doesn't seem to cut it...

I love doing high-fashion and beauty shoots, but my real passion is in the Avante-garde genre. I am a huge Cirque du Soleil and "Dark Carnival" fan and I find an incredible amount of inspiration in these concepts. On the flip-side, I am a sucker for a nice glossy, high-tech look. Lady GaGa is my hero! Yes, I am not ashamed to admit it! She is a genius!

So, in essence, my taste ranges from glossy high-fashion to grungy, dark, gritty themed images. They say variety is the spice of life and well... I like it SPICY! :)

Me

I was born on the 31st of March 1978 in Bloemfontein, South Africa and currently live in Johannesburg with my partner and the love of my life since 1999, Shane. Yep, you guessed it: I'm a happy chappy. I'm gay.

Boring stuff aside I'm absolutely besotted with my husband, music, art and movies and I have a weak spot for any shiny, new gadget.

I work as a Software Engineer (a fancy term for a "code monkey"), but my dominant creative side gets me flack at work regularly, as I often spend more time making programs look "pretty" than actually getting them to work... So, I think I've always been a photographer/artist at heart and just didn't know it.

My dream is to become a full-time photographer though. If I pull that one out of the hat one day, my life would be complete! I can think of few things more rewarding than waking up in the morning and thinking "I have to take photographs today...". I will walk around with a permanent smile on my face when that day arrives!

I'm a very relaxed, laid back, easy-going guy; a raging perfectionist with a slight case of Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder. Yeh, I'm a bit of a walking contradiction - a crazy organisational nerd with a hint of spaz thrown in for good measure. And I'm damn proud of it!

As you would expect, this translates into my photography in a big way. I like having fun in the studio, more than anything else, but it's as important to me to have that professional edge. That's what gets the work done and turns it from a casual full-day chat-fest to a photo shoot.

I'm also: a pacifist, nature lover, animal lover, big ol' softy, romantic, metalhead, gamer, tattooed, pierced, wannabe writer, wannabe singer, wannabe musician, fashion victim, internet junkie and chronic TV series watcher. I cry in movies, swear too much, love laughing, love food, am slow to anger and relatively easy to amuse.

And now you know my whole pedigree! Thanks for taking a peek at my work, I hope you enjoy it!

Take care,
Johann.