Boston Portrait Photographer
You don't come here for a photograph. You come here to be seen — possibly for the first time. The portrait is what you take home from it.
"I recently did a photo shoot that went far beyond beautiful portrait photography. It was a deep experience. Not only because Craig William Johnston is talented, but because he truly sees you." — Viktorina Kapitonova | Principal Dancer, Boston Ballet
The work isn't the camera
I noticed something a few years into doing this. Clients would tell me — usually after the session was over, when we were just talking — that they'd never felt that. Really felt seen, by anyone. Not by their partner, not by their therapist, not by the people who'd known them their whole lives.
I didn't set out to be that for people. But it turns out the same thing that makes a portrait good — really being present with the person, listening with my eyes, paying attention to what they're not saying — is the thing most people never experience.
So when someone asks what they're paying for, the honest answer is two things: a photograph that anchors the next decade of their work, yes. But also ninety minutes of being witnessed. Possibly for the first time. That's the real work. The image is what you take home.
The studio is in Boston's SoWa arts district at 1140 Washington St. By appointment, one person at a time, no rush, no producer in the room. Just the work, and you, and an honest portrait you don't usually get from anywhere else.
What we make
Editorial Portraits
For the press feature, the album art, the book jacket, the moment your work is about to land in front of strangers. The image they form of you starts here.
Inquire →Executive Headshots
The headshot is doing the introducing for you in every meeting you're not in. If yours is doing it badly, you already know.
Boston Headshots →Personal Branding
For the version of you that's launching the next thing. A flexible portfolio of images across press, social, and web — from one session, in one day.
Inquire →Fine Art & Legacy
The portrait your kids will show your grandkids. Heirloom-quality, intentional, made to live on a wall — not a phone.
Inquire →Family Portraits
The holiday card is the wrong reason to make a family portrait. The right reason is harder to articulate — and worth doing once, properly, while everyone is who they are right now.
Inquire →Musician Portraits
For the album you're about to release. The press kit your label is asking about. The image that anchors the next chapter. Past subjects include Carlos Dengler, Rick Berlin, The Fixx, Adam Green, and The Thermals.
Inquire →Selected work
Voices
"Craig takes such profoundly human and intimate portraits. He has a real intuition for this medium — it's actually kind of startling." — Carlos Dengler | Founding Member of Interpol
"Much of a successful photoshoot is what sort of 'bedside manner' the photographer has. As an especially gifted portrait photographer, Craig William Johnston is terrific on everything that counts. I consider him Rembrandt with a Camera." — Rick Berlin | Boston musician
"To be a successful portrait photographer requires a level of empathy that Craig has in excess. He has a talent to see us in a way that surprises us and yet it's somehow the way we see ourselves. We just didn't know it. I couldn't recommend him more." — Jim Paul
The studio
A private studio in Boston's historic SoWa arts and design district. Full lighting flexibility, no walk-ins, no overlap with other sessions, no time pressure. One shoot at a time, by appointment.
1140 Washington St, Studio 2B
Boston, MA 02118
By appointment only
Ninety minutes
Of being witnessed. Of being directed by someone who is actually paying attention. Of being seen — possibly for the first time.
Sessions book 4–6 weeks out. Start with a 15-minute call. The hard part is just starting.