#268 • Johnny Johnson "Circle of Life", "Council of Kings" & "Frozen Eden" Photographs

Part of The Johnny Johnson Estate Auction (timed auction by Alaska Premier Auctions & Appraisals)

Starting at $5.00

Status: Available

Bidding closes Nov 3, 2026 7:28 PM AKST

Category: Art

Three signed and numbered photographs by Alaska wildlife photographer Johnny Johnson (1947-2025). The first work, "Circle of Life", is dated circa 1993 and numbered 124/950. It shows an emperor penguin family. Johnson described the scene: "Near a grounded iceberg along Antarctica's Riiser-Larsen Ice Shelf, a pair of emperor penguins watch over their three-month-old chick. Standing four feet high and always impeccably dressed, the emperor penguin is by far the world's most impressive bird. They are the largest of seventeen species of penguins, and they are the only living creature to breed and over-winter on the open ice of Antarctica." The second work, "Council of Kings", is dated circa 2001 and numbered 22/300. It shows a group of adult king penguins standing on a snowy landscape. Johnson described the scene: "This close-up of king penguins at Royal Bay on the Island of South Georgia-Antarctica was taken with a 28mm lens while I was only five feet away. King penguins are very curious and these birds quietly gathered behind me as I was photographing other penguins engaged in a courtship ritual. My wife whispered to me that I should turn around slowly and look behind me. I did as she suggested and to my delight this group of magnificent adult king penguins filled the frame of my lens." The third work, "Frozen Eden", is dated circa 1998 and numbered 28/450. Johnson described the scene: "To make this photo of an emperor penguin rookery, nestled on the fast ice between huge tabular icebergs, I traveled by Russian icebreaker through the Indian Ocean from Capetown-South Africa to Perth-Australia. During this 7000 mile, five week voyage I photographed several colonies of emperor penguins along Antarctica's wild and rarely visited eastern coastline. Emperor penguins breed on sea-ice, in the coldest conditions endured by any bird. The juveniles are carried out to sea as the ice breaks into floes. Fully independent, the young must moult to the diving plumage of an adult coat before their ice floe disintegrates, dumping them into the sea to dive for their own fish. In this picture some chicks have begun to moult to adult plumage - can you spot them?" All pieces are signed, dated, and numbered in the lower corner in gold leaf ink and printed on Fuji Crystal Archive Supergloss and Ilfochrome paper. A care guide and artist's biography are included on the reverse. Each one is shrink-wrapped on board, and "Circle of Life" measures approximately 24.5" x 20.5".