About Photogrpaher joSon, bio and background
"Clean, spare, and meditative, joSon’s photography reveals a mind of extraordinary focus as well as a deep sense of captivating simplicity.” ---Adobe
"Had Richard Avedon taken up gardening, he might have ended up with photos like these.” ---Sunset magazine .
"joSon uses his expressive instincts and well-honed eye to capture the beauty of flowers in digital images that are so finely tuned that they often pass as painted illustrations.” ---San Francisco Chronicle
"The culturally rich life experiences of photographer joSon play as a backdrop to his transcendent images…. his work as a photographer just as surely brings a sense of tranquillity to those he touches through his art. " ---Four Season Hotel Magazine
"joSon is a rainbow of smiles with a pot full of talent at the end. I love his work. My clients love his work. And, if the sales numbers are any indication, consumers love his work, too. Imagery so crisp and bright and shiny it even made the Port Authority a place of beauty. Oh, and he's FUN to work with. Very, very fun." ---Bill Previdi, Senior Art Director, Havas Worldwide, Tonic
"My shoot with joSon was one of the best I've ever been on. His energy is amazing, I was extremely happy with the end product, and he was wonderful to work with." ---Jamie Levey, Senior Art Director,Campbell-Ewald
"I worked with joSon on a big shoot for our client, Schering-Plough. He was consistent in his professionalism and dedication to the project, which made the client and agency comfortable and the shoot an ultimate success. joSon's passion for photography comes to life in his images and his contagious personality makes working with him a true pleasure." ---Julie Rosenoff, Art Buyer and Production Manager, Havas Worldwide
"joSon has a unique vision. He is able to portray a deep human connection with a simple photograph."---Alex Spak, Senior Art Director, Kaplan Thaler Group
------
Award-winning photographer joSon first launched his photographic odyssey as a barefoot Buddhist monk amid the chaos and poverty of post-war Vietnam.
joSon’s father, an African American Embassy employee, was killed mysteriously in the line of duty shortly before the fall of Saigon. His mother was a medical doctor of mixed Filipino and Vietnamese descent. Seeking refuge in a Vietnamese monastery, the Amerasian boy would be strictly schooled in the ancient Buddhist art of meditation.
It was there that the camera’s lens first claimed him. Cradling a battered point-and-shoot, joSon taught himself photography- -a skill he still refers to today as the “art of seeing.” His earlier desire for calm and tranquility, his fun loving approach to life are clearly reflected in his images today. As descried by Adobe in an interview with joSon "Clean, spare, and meditative, joSon’s photography reveals a mind of extraordinary focus as well as a deep sense of captivating simplicity.”
“I thought being a monk was my calling long before I saw life through the viewfinder,” joSon continues, “…but the truth is, I have never left the monkhood. I just left the temple. You can see that very clearly in my work today in a portrait or a landscape– meditations on the beauty to be found in the simplest of forms.”
Today joSon’s images hang in galleries and private collections worldwide--and his work as a commercial photographer is in demand from organizations as diverse as the United Nations, Samsung, Time Warner, HSBC, IBM, the Four Seasons Hotels, Coppertone, and Claritin.
Yet of his signature photographs--those “intimate portraits of nature,” of children, and most especially of flowers--joSon still speaks as if describing meditations: as images rooted deeply in the rich dark earth of love and loss, of war and peace, of destiny and desire and a young boys’ dreams.
------
As Sunset magazine said of joSon’s most recent book joSon: Intimate Portrait of Nature, Graphis, 2013. "Had Richard Avedon taken up gardening, he might have ended up with photos like these.”
joSon shares more about his life and how his early monkhood shaped the images he creates today in the following intimate interviews. (click on the links below to read the interviews)
"joSon’s Modern Tools Illuminate Traditional Art in 'Fotanicals’" --By Sophia Markoulakis for San Francisco Chronicle.
"Flower Power " --by Sam Tevin for Arts & Culture of East Bay Express.