Photography Faculty
As a Photography major, you’ll learn from working professionals who publish in places like Dwell, Philadelphia Magazine and The Cut, and who work with clientele in industries like fashion, music, architecture and beyond, as well as celebrated fine arts photographers who exhibit their work regularly.
Meet the Faculty
James Johnson, Chair of Foundation and Professor of Photography
James Johnson (born Syracuse, New York, 1976) received an MFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology (2002) and a BFA from Marywood University (1999). He is a multidisciplinary artist who works with photography, but his work has also encompassed sculpture, installation and live activity. He is interested in architecture, issues surrounding representation and pictorial conventions. He is influenced by conceptual art, minimalism and paintings from the renaissance. Johnson is currently thinking about how race, gender/sexuality, ability and other aspects of identity shape how we see and understand the world—as well as the cultural contributions we are capable of making.
Recognitions include an Independence Foundation Fellowship and two Pennsylvania Council of the Arts Fellowships. He was an Acquisition Finalist for the West Prize and has completed residencies at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (Omaha, NE) and Officina Stamperia Del Notaio (Tusa, Italy). Exhibitions include: Fleisher/Ollman Gallery (Philadelphia), Vox Populi (Philadelphia), Humble Arts Foundation (New York, NY), Bryn Mawr College (Bryn Mawr), The Print Center (Philadelphia), ThreeWalls (Chicago, Il) and Guest Spot (Baltimore, MD). He participated in No Soul For Sale with Vox Populi at Tate Modern in London. His work was included in the book HUMBLE CATS: New Cats in Art Photography, published by Yoffy Press.
Byron Karabatsos, Adjunct
Byron’s films have screened at over 100 film festivals, including: the Dallas International Film Festival, the Sarasota Film Festival, the Denver International Film Festival, the Woods Hole Film Festival and the Maryland Film Festival. His films have received support from Philadelphia Independent Film & Video Association (PIFVA), Philadelphia Public Broadcasting Service, Temple University and the University of the Arts. He was commissioned by Microsoft Corporation to make a documentary about its School of the Future and worked on several projects supported by the Knight Foundation. He also produces, directs, films and edits funding, marketing and promotion videos for various institutions and non-profit organizations.
Ashley Smith, Adjunct
Ashley Catharine Smith is a Philadelphia-based artist working in photography, video and fibers. Through the combination of these mediums, she creates visceral representations of intimacy and sexuality. Her work is driven by her desire to understand how feeling rules and gender roles affect our interpersonal relationships and sense of self. It also aims to construct moments of closeness with the subjects of her photographs through their printed image.
Smith earned her MFA in photography, video and related media from the School of Visual Arts. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States at the National Liberty Museum (2020), Delaware Art Museum (2018), Marin Museum of Contemporary Art (2017) and the Barrett Art Center (2021) among others. From 2021–2022, she had work included in the group exhibition Textile Art of Today, which traveled to museums in Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. She currently teaches at Drexel University and Moore College of Art & Design. A selection of her works can be purchased through Paradigm Gallery + Studio.
