Steve Johnston
2 catalogued objects connected to Steve Johnston.
Biography
Person.
Steve Johnston is a photographer closely associated with the origins of i-D's straight-up portrait style. His head-to-toe photographs of punks on London's King's Road helped establish a way of recording dress that placed the individual and their self-presentation at the centre of the image. Terry Jones carried this approach into the magazine he founded in 1980.
Johnston also made early i-D covers, including the December 1982 portrait of art editor Moira Bogue with a water pistol. His work connects street photography with the experimental production culture of the early style press, where improvised studio images and photographs made outside could share a common visual language.
Reviewed 2026-09-09Selected sources
- i-D — Steve Johnston and the origins of straight-up photographyKing’s Road punk portraits, straight-up method and connection to i-D’s founding.
- i-D — The stories behind its iconic coversMoira Bogue’s account of Johnston’s December 1982 cover photograph.
PER-9F4ED30F4F8BE28B
Represented across objects dated 1980–1982.
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