#26 • Johnny Johnson "In the Land of Giants", "Breach of Worlds" & "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 6:08 PM AKST

Category: Art

Three signed photographs by Alaska wildlife photographer Johnny Johnson (1947–2025). The first work is entitled "In the Land of Giants," c.2007, numbered 404/950. Johnson describes the scene: “Few sights are more memorable than a face-to-face encounter with a monster grizzly. Standing over eight feet tall, my 600mm lens only magnified the bear's power and my own sense of vulnerability and awe. Weighing in excess of a thousand pounds, these huge males keep to themselves and are rarely seen. Since I was downwind, the bear couldn't catch my scent and stood, nostrils flaring. I spoke to him in a calm tone. "Hey, big bear. Hey, big bear...... Hey, big bear". I kept talking as he dropped to all fours and slowly ambled away.” The second photograph is entitled "Breach of Worlds," c.1994, numbered 121/950. 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 third photograph is "Frozen Eden", c.1998, numbered 35/450. Johnson describes 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 are signed, dated, and numbered in gold leaf ink and printed on Fuji Crystal Archive Supergloss paper. The photographs are shrink-wrapped on board; the largest measures approximately 24.5" x 20.5".