#313 • Johnny Johnson "River Dance", "Breach of Worlds" & "Romancing the Dawn" 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 7:43 PM AKST

Category: Art

Three signed photographs by Alaska wildlife photographer Johnny Johnson (1947–2025). The first work is entitled "River Dance," ©2015, numbered 39/950. Johnson describes the scene: “As the sun set, I knew it was time to get off the river, but it was just too beautiful—too exciting.  I decided to stay a little longer and was rewarded when an adult grizzly emerged from the crimson current with his prize— a large sockeye (red) salmon.  It seems the gulls are always present hoping for scraps. During the three months I spent documenting life on a salmon stream for the National  Geographic, I learned a great deal about the importance of salmon to a healthy watershed.  Each day was an adventure, a new chapter in my understanding of our vanishing wild world.” The second photograph is entitled "Breach of Worlds," ©1994, numbered 103/950. Johnson describes the scene: “A humpback whale performs a full body breach near Admiralty Island in Southeast Alaska. When 40 tons of whale bursts from the water your heart stops and for a few quick seconds this behemoth of the deep appears. Then in a great crash of water it is gone.” The last is "Romancing the Dawn" ©2011, numbered 31/950, depicting a large bull moose with massive antlers interacting with a cow moose during the autumn rut. Johnson describes the scene: “As I pulled up to Denali National Park Headquarters in the pre-dawn chill of mid-September, I saw my friend Gary eagerly awaiting me. "it's a perfect morning," he exclaimed excitedly. Gary was Denali Park's Chief Ranger and an avid amateur photographer. The mating season for moose had just started and the associated interaction often provided excellent opportunities to photograph moose behavior. It wasn't long before we spotted a large bull moose defending a harem of more than a dozen females. Wasting no time, we grabbed our cameras and bushwhacked thru the brush three-quarters of a mile. We set up our tripods just as the morning light turned the bull's enormous antlers into beacons of gold. To our delight, a young female approached the bull and they began to nuzzle. Minutes later, it was over and they were gone. "Did you get that?" Gary asked in a whisper. "Absolutely" I said, "it just doesn't get any better than that!"” All three are signed and dated in gold leaf ink. The attached artist information identifies Fuji Crystal Archive Supergloss prints for "River Dance" and "Romancing the Dawn", and Cibachrome/Ilfochrome for "Breach of Worlds". The photographs are shrink-wrapped on board; the largest measures approximately 14" x 17".