Artist Spotlight: Maren Johnson

Maren Makes Memories Maren Makes Memories

Senior Maren Johnson expresses herself through her camera lens

MAYA AMMAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Aplane flies over Gravelly Point, a classic picnic spot for senior Maren Johnson and her friends, and everyone begins to panic. Maren leaps for her camera as her friends put themselves into the right position so she can capture the perfect photo with the plane flying overhead. As a photographer, the pressure to get the best shot has been a constant influence in Maren’s life.

Maren discovered her love for captured memories at an early age.

“I always loved looking at our old family pictures on our computer, and I would spend [countless] nights with my siblings looking through them and laughing,” Maren said.

After years of honing her skills, Maren’s passion for photography has become clear to those around her.

“She has always been creative and artistic. She just looks at things differently than my other kids,” Maren’s mom Hillary Johnson said.

As she entered high school, while she temporarily explored other activities, she kept finding herself drawn to photography.

“Freshman year, I was going to play field hockey, but I couldn’t because I hurt my wrist, so I reevaluated,” Maren said. “[I asked myself] if I even wanted to do this or if I wanted to do something completely different. [Instead], I took Yearbook, and that was a really great outlet for me to go into more creative things and focus on who I am. I’ve never been good at sports, [so I focused] on things that make me special.”

Maren soon realized that she could use her talents professionally to help others and make money at the same time.

“Someone in our church had known that she was interested in taking family photos so they [hired] her. That was her first professional paid job,” Hillary said. “Then she [photographed] a few other families after that and just kept going.”

In addition to taking pictures for other families, her own family figured she would be able to do the same for them.

“I totally count on her to record and document all of our family moments,” Hillary said. “Whenever we go on vacation, she takes all of our pictures and makes videos of our trip.”

Soon after she started photography professionally, Maren began to explore videography. Both pursuits allowed her to capture the best moments in her life through a lens.

“Whenever I’m sad, happy or need to feel grateful for my life, I always just make a video, even if it’s a minute long,” Maren said.

Maren’s favorite video so far is her 2020 recap.

“I made it as a way to encapsulate my feelings about that year,” Maren said. “[That year] was really hard and challenging for me, just like it was for a lot of different people, but there were also so many moments when I was happy and I was really grateful for everything that I had in my life.”

In an effort to spread her creations to a larger audience, Maren started posting her videos on Instagram and TikTok.

“I had a lot of people reach out to me,

MAREN’S MOMENTS — Maren Johnson captures the most important moments in life through photography. In addition to taking pictures for fun, she does wedding and senior shoots.

saying how much [the 2020 recap] impacted them and how much that video meant to them,” Maren said. “It helped me to create a name for myself.”

While viewers enjoy her content, most of them are unaware of the tedious video editing process, especially considering there is a certain way that Maren personalizes her content.

“I have an editing software for my more professional videos like the 2020 recap or for videos that I really want to spend a lot of time doing. I have a hard drive so I basically take everything from my hard drive, put it in Final Cut Pro and edit it [there],” Maren said. “It takes a long time to cut everything down and make [content] my own and how I want it to be.”

Maren’s photography projects and paid jobs are also incredibly time-consuming.

“It is definitely taxing sometimes because it does take a lot of time, but that is also what they’re paying for,” Maren said. “They’re paying for my time at the shoot and for the preparation that I have to put in, but also the hours and hours that it will take to edit all their pictures and get it to them on time.”

While the process is grueling, Maren wouldn’t trade it for anything.

“It’s all worth it seeing your video [or photos] after they’re all complete,” Maren said. “It’s just the best feeling. Honestly it makes me emotional sometimes watching my videos all the way through because it brings you back to those moments and those emotions that you were feeling when you took them.”

Although she loves seeing the results, striking the right balance between her work schedule and her daily life has proven to be difficult. Her photography commitments often take her away from aspects of her teenage life.

“I just think it’s so cool that Maren is always being booked for photoshoots. Sometimes when we all hang out as a group and Maren has to leave, she casually brings up that she has to go photograph a wedding that night,” senior Maggie Olifer said. “She has a really professional job; people are trusting her with their wedding photos, one of the most important days of their lives.”

Since Maren began pursuing professional opportunities, her friends have asked her to share her talents too, making her their own personal photographer.

“I bring my camera everywhere I go, so I’m always taking pictures [and videos] of my friends. They’re always in my monthly videos,” Maren said. “I think that’s why they really love to watch them—they’re always in them.”

Doing photoshoots against a cool background in the city has become a weekly tradition for Maren and her friends.

“I have such vivid memories of Maren calling me up and saying, ‘Hey, I just found this cool backdrop, want to take a picture?’ and we’d drive out to Georgetown or a random flower field to take pictures,” Olifer said. “She would then show up with three or four different cameras just to capture each moment in a different way.”

For Maren, the equipment she uses is equally as important as her editing software. It takes a certain lens to capture the perfect moment.

“The camera that I usually use is a Canon EOS Rebel T2I with an 18-55 millimeter lens, but when I want a wider lens, I use a 75-300 millimeter lens,” Maren said. “I’ve also been getting into film cameras lately; I use disposable cameras and Polaroid cameras all the time, and I think film is so cool. Of course your classic camera, my phone, [is always] on me too.”

Maren’s work has opened up new doors for her, enabling her to explore a future with her at the helm.

“I definitely want to pursue videography and photography in the future because it’s a passion of mine that brings me so much joy and makes me feel fulfilled,” Maren said. “It’s something I can do in the next stages of my life, and I think that it’s a pretty stable career because people are always going to need pictures and videos.”

As Maren prepares to embark on the next stage of her photography career, she will maintain her unique outlook on life, continuing to capture moments like no other.

“She’s always had an eye for beauty,” Hillary said. “Even when she was young, she has always loved to make things look beautiful.”

EVEN WHEN SHE WAS YOUNG, SHE HAS ALWAYS LOVED TO MAKE THINGS LOOK BEAUTIFUL.”

- HILLARY JOHNSON MAREN JOHNSON’S MOM