David Johnson

David S. Johnson (August 3, 1926 – March 1, 2024) was an American photographer. He was known for his portrayal of society, urban life, and the jazz culture of San Francisco's Fillmore District in the 1940s and 1950s, as well as figures of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Born in Florida under segregation and trained at the California School of Fine Arts, he was the first African American student of photographer Ansel Adams.

Early life Johnson was born on August 3, 1926, in Jacksonville, Florida, and was raised by his foster parents, Alice Johnson (from whom he took his name) and John Henry. He grew up poor in segregated Florida, and his foster father was sent to prison when David was four. He developed an interest in photography as a child after winning a camera in a contest, and his desire to become a photographer was solidified in high school during a summer trip to Washington, D. C.

Before finishing high school he was drafted into the U.S. Navy during World War II. He visited San Francisco during his time with the Navy, then was deployed to the Philippines. Upon returning to Jacksonville he read that Ansel Adams had established a fine art photography program at the California School of Fine Arts. With no formal training in photography but equipped with G.I. Bill funds, Johnson wrote to Adams requesting admission to the program, informing Adams he was black. Adams replied that race did not matter, but that the classes were full. After a student dropped out, creating a vacancy, Adams wrote again, inviting Johnson to join the program, and to live with Adams until he found a place to live. He became involved with San Francisco politics and the local NAACP chapter, and was sent as a delegate to photograph the 1963 March on Washington. Eventually he was unable to financially sustain his photography business and closed his studio, giving up professional photography while pursuing social and community work. Shortly after, he was hired by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he worked in the personnel department to recruit minority employees. He was a founding member of the UCSF Black Caucus and received the Chancellor's Public Service Award in 1976. He retired from UCSF in 1983, and galleries in Atlanta and Washington, D. C.

Johnson was the recipient of the Certificate of Honor in Photography from Mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom in 2004, and the Fillmore Heritage Pioneer Award in 2011. In 2012 he produced a book, A Dream Begun So Long Ago, written by his wife Jacqueline Annette Sue. He has served as chairman of the Mayor's Committee to Restore Haight Ashbury and as past president of the San Francisco African American Historical & Cultural Society. His name is engraved in the sidewalk of the Fillmore's Gene Suttle Plaza. In 2017, his name was among the contenders to replace the name of San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza.

Johnson considered himself a modern-day "griot", a story teller, historian and narrator of West African culture. He later married Jacqueline Annette Sue, an author. He was a long-time resident of San Francisco's Fillmore District, and later relocated to Marin County, where he resided in Greenbrae, California. David Johnson died from complications of dementia and pneumonia at his home on March 1, 2024, at the age of 97.