During our zoom call, Claudia will talk about the importance of personal projects that are close to your heart, as well as overcoming fear and perfectionism when exploring interesting ideas.
We will also talk about how she experimented with familiar and unknown techniques to create something unexpected. Hopefully you will walk away from this presentation inspired to create fearlessly, enjoying the ride and process without a set picture in mind!
Claudia Johnstone is a Phoenix-based editorial and portrait photographer with a background in architecture. Born and raised in Germany, she lived and worked in the UK before making Arizona her home in 2008. A pivotal life transition led her to prioritize her mental health, ultimately resulting in her ADHD diagnosis in 2022. Driven to better understand her own neurodivergent brain, she became a certified life coach specializing in ADHD. Integrating her lived experience with her creative practice, she launched her personal project, May I Have Your Attention, in December 2023.
May I Have Your Attention is an ongoing portrait series that weaves together Claudia’s photography, lived experience, and coaching work. Through dynamic, in-camera multiple exposures of adults with ADHD, the project explores the layered neurodivergent minds of her models. They reveal and bring to light both, the challenges and the strengths that coexist within.
Each session goes beyond a traditional photoshoot, creating space for open conversation, vulnerability, and collaboration, including choosing the final image together. Using color, motion, constant light, and flash the images are created entirely in camera keeping post-production to a minimum. This deliberate technique and process is part of her story and the project, keeping her own strengths in mind while visually expressing the dynamic, multifaceted nature of ADHD. The goal of the project is to allow her to extend her advocacy far beyond one-on-one coaching, hoping to raise awareness and sparking conversation in general.
