John S. Johnston

John S. Johnston (c.1839- December 17, 1899) was a late 19th-century maritime and landscape photographer. He is known for his photographs of racing yachts and New York City landmarks and cityscapes.

Very little is known about his life. He was evidently born in Britain in the late 1830s, and was active in the New York City area in the late 1880s and 1890s. He died in 1899.

Johnston's photographs were published in Outing magazine, Forest and Stream (now Field and Stream), and other 1890s periodicals featuring yacht racing.

Collections of Johnston's work exist today at the Mystic Seaport Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, the National Museum of American History, the Hallmark Photographic Collection, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, the Seattle Art Museum, and many other museums and archives across the United States.

Johnston was also an active canoeist. According to "Forest and Stream" magazine, he was "one of the old-time disciples of MacGregor; taking up canoeing as a boy in England when the sport was still a novelty."

He reportedly worked in partnership with C. Miller at one time, and his office was located at various times on 508 W. 158th Street as well as 494 W. 166th St. & 783 Broadway in New York City.

His obituary appears on page ten of the December 19, 1899 edition of the New York Times:

"DIES TRYING TO HIDE IDENTITY.

J. S. Johnston of New York Refuses to Reveal His Friends' Names.

BUFFALO, Dec. 18 [1899] . --- J. S. Johnston, a photographer at 1263 Broadway, New York, died at Niagara Falls yesterday of heart trouble. Mr. Johnston would not give his home address or the names of any friends in New York, even when he was told that his death was near.

John S. Johnston made a specialty of scenic photography. He photographed most of the United States warships during the war with Spain. He also photographed all of the international yacht races during the past ten years. It was while taking photographs of the Columbia-Shamrock races that he caught a severe cold, on account of which he left town last Tuesday for Niagara Falls, to benefit his health.

Very little of his history is known. His home was at 464 West One Hundred and Sixty-sixth Street, where he lived alone. It is said that he was a native of Ireland and about sixty years old; that he was married and had a grown daughter, but had been separated from his family for some time."

External links

[http://www.jsjohnston.org The Yacht Photography of J. S. Johnston]