Why Mamie Johnson for this Photography Studio?
—My Grandmother, Mamie, was born and raised in Itta Bena, Mississippi. She was born the third of ten children where hard work was not a choice but a necessity. Once she began her own family with a husband and six children in Memphis, Tennessee, her dream of becoming a cosmetologist was put on hold. Instead, she had to pivot, as we all do from time to time, taking a job with a local politician-her original dream never brought to fruition. So, naming this studio for her allows her to have the studio she never could.
She taught me the value of sitting back and observing to notice and appreciate the smallest of moments. She was the quiet matriarch. She would sit back in her chair and take in the entire world. She taught me how to look at the world with my eyes and mind wide open which probably created my “eye”.
I am able to find the beauty in the world through the patience and acceptance I learned from her. She was able to appreciate the good with the bad and recognize that life, is just life. She ignited my passion for not simply snapping photos, but for conveying the truth of the moment. Put that passion to work for you and your family from my family to yours.