Mark Allen Johnson Photographs Everything that's Wrong

That's Mark Allen Johnson there, on the bed with the brown packages that are probably drugs. That's what Mark does. He befriends his way into shitty, illicit situations and then films everyone involved and somehow gets his SD cards home without being sued or murdered. It's amazing really. A talent that's made him the darling photographer/producer of dude-media outlets like Discovery Channel, Maxim and Rolling Stone, and now me, even though I didn't pay him. Instead I asked him why he's so obsessed with crime and how he does what he does, but most importantly how all those despots, kingpins, juntas and gangbangers leave him feeling. How does he stay sane? But as he explained over the phone from LA, break-ups are actually harder than war zones.

VICE: Hey Mark, why are you so obsessed with crime?
Mark Allen Johnson: Well, I had a difficult life. I had Tourette's syndrome, living in the sticks outside Seattle so I kind of found it impossible to hang out with others, you know. Schools, authority, parents didn't understand and I was always the outcast. My family were from a completely different mindset as well. They were just working Americans and they just weren't risk takers, and I just felt very alone with them. All that meant that as a child I think I was afraid of everything, so I thought that rather than hiding I'd embrace it. And as I started going after people who scared me I realised I had something in common with them. And that was the first time I felt I felt I had something in common with anyone. After that, my head was on a swivel. Anything that looked dark or edgy or dangerous I'd just go after it.

What was the first story you did?
One of my first stories was inside a prison. At that time prisons weren't being super-highlighted in the media so they weren't being inundated with requests, so they were a bit more willing to let someone like me in. Still, I had to lie about my experience - who I'd worked for, how long I'd been working. Lying my way into the story was one of my first big challenges. But having said that, I would never lie to a subject matter. That's one thing I would never, ever do. To the people I interview, I'm honest to a fault.

Let's talk about getting random people to trust you. What's the secret?
Well, I look at journalism like getting laid. You're in a bar and you walk up to a girl and you're thinking how do I get this chick? If you're approaching something sensitive, you have to ask yourself what do I have to say to get in? What does this person want? If you can't figure out what's in it for them, you'll never get the story

So you did a story with Discovery Channel about a guy producing illegal steroids. If we apply the girl-in-a-bar metaphor, how did you get that story?
OK, well, first I believe that everyone wants to tell their story. In the case of the steroids guy, it was just a matter of spending time with him, getting to know him and never once broaching the subject of filming him. Over a period of time, as the trust builds, he eventually came to me and said hey, what do you think about me? Am I interesting?

What was in it for him?
Well what I've learned about most criminals is that they usually believe they're good at what they do. They're really, really good at it but they live behind a closed door. They can't share it with anyone and often they want to. So from the perspective of the steroid producer, he gets to share his story, from his viewpoint with someone he knows won't judge. He gets to shine. He gets to brag a bit. I don't want to brag, but I think given long enough, I could get anyone, anywhere to talk by being honest with people and making them understand I'm cut from the same thread.

Cut from the same thread? But you're a middle-class white guy.
Sure, but I think that anyone who has put themselves in a difficult situation, from a police officer to a gang banger to a war photographer, you have to make some decisions that you might not make on a daily basis. And those moments, I think, they really define you as a person. So if you see someone else in a moment like that, you can't judge them, you just see that person for who they are, even if they've made bad ethical choices. I don't know if that makes sense, but that's the thread.

Are you ever scared?
I'm always scared, but I'll tell you, I'm most scared of failure in my own eyes. You know, I recently tapped out on a few things. I won't go into what they were but it was the first time I've ever really tapped out on something. And the reason was that I realised they were too dangerous, that it was basically a one-way journey. And I'll tell you that was the worst because there is no one more scary than my own judgment.

So how do you come down from these situations? Do you see a shrink?
Well, that's another point is that these experiences, in some ways I think they've destroyed my life. It's almost like a drug addiction. Nothing is really exciting unless it's edgy. Nothing in life on an average basis seems interesting anymore.

That sounds terrible.
Yeah and I'll tell you, I just had a relationship with the single greatest woman who's ever walked the Earth but I'm a difficult person. I can't relax, I don't know how to just lay on the fucking beach and just hang out, and that, single-handily destroyed my relationship. She was there for me, and I said I was there for her, but I just wasn't. I always need the challenge of getting the girl, or getting the story or trying to not go broke and without that challenge, when thing are good, I just really struggle. I'm trying to figure out new ways of being challenged in life but it's a fucking difficult nut to crack.

So have you found something else?
No. The simple answer is no, not really.

Would you give up your success to get this girl back?
I think I could but… Let me tell you something about me, and I hope this doesn't sound cocky, but all I have is my confidence. It's my confidence that allows me to talk to criminals and it's my confidence that got me the girl I loved, and it's the confidence that made me successful. If I gave up that success I would give up the essence of who I am, and then I couldn't have that girl. That's just how it works.

So if this girl was reading this article, what would you say to her?
I'd say that… the only thing that ever scared me more than myself, was you, I think. It was loving you properly. And by not facing that fear, I lost you. There. That's it.

Wait… you just came up with that then?
What do you mean I just came up with that then? Yeah bro, that's it.

It was nice. Thanks for sharing this stuff with me. Thank you.
Yeah well, who best to share with than a complete stranger.

See more of Mark Allen Johnson's images at relentlessphoto.com

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