Johnson, Eric, 1838-1919

Biographical Note

Well known to most as a composer, Ernest Bloch is also recognized for his considerable genius in the field of photography. Bloch took up the camera in his teenage years and constantly documented his experiences using still images until his death in 1959. Throughout his life, he produced over 6000 negatives and 2000 prints that are now housed in the Ernest Bloch Archive at the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona.

Bloch’s subject matter ranged from landscapes to self-portraits, family portraits, and other images of nature and people that surrounded him. His photographs were praised by such contemporary authorities as Alfred Stieglitz and captured the interest of other prominent photographers, including Ansel Adams, Georgia O’Keeffe, Edward Weston, and Diego Rivera.

The prints in this collection were selected for development as a product of photographer Eric Johnson's exploratory study of relationships between music and photography conducted in the early 1970s. The resulting publication, A Composer’s Vision: Photographs by Ernest Bloch (1972) documents his findings.

From the guide to the Eric Johnson Collection of Ernest Bloch Photographs, 1896-2008, (bulk 1896-1937), (Music Division Library of Congress)