For forty years photographer Johnny Johnston has dedicated himself to capturing the exotic beauty, passion and mystery of the Arabian horse. Boldheart Publications announces the first ever collection of Johnny's internationally acclaimed photography: Arabians from the camera of Johnny Johnston. However, the enjoyment of this book isn't limited to the Arabian horse crowd. Anyone who truly enjoys photography, natural beauty, and the equine spirit will admire the contents of this handsome book. It is destined to be a classic for collectors, photo buffs, and horse lovers alike. Arabians also gives insight into Johnston's photographic process with an anecdote of a 'typical'session with the master. 9 1/2"x 12 1/2" hardbound with dustcover,84 full color pages on fine 100 lb. gloss paper.
I am the third child of four. Born in Atlanta, Georgia in October of 1950. My father was an airline pilot, World War II veteran, brilliant, dashingly handsome, sensitive and a vicious alcoholic.
Mother was a beautiful and very talented, schizophrenic-manic depressive and did nothing to defend us children from our father's alcoholic abuses.
Our first home was in Hapeville, Georgia, close to the Atlanta airport where my father worked as an airplane mechanic while waiting to get on as a pilot. He stayed with Delta Airlines some 42 years and retired a Captain. Mother decorated cakes, made beautiful dresses and hid in the bathroom to smoke her cigarettes.
At the age of ten, my parents moved us to the Lake House in Jonesboro, Georgia. I learned to swim and spent countless hours under water, firmly believing I was a misplaced mermaid. My brother Howard and I were convinced we should have been born Indians. We loved the woods around our property and knew them intimately. One of our nightly prowls took us to the horses on the hill where under the clear moonlight we mounted without rope or bridle or authority and rode the wild ponies at breakneck speed around the fields.
By this time I had discovered Walter Farley and the Black Stallion. All that was a part of me sported images of horses I created with my idle doodling. Teachers knew my school work from the horses cantering around the borders and the empty lines where answers should have been.
One of my more egregious offenses during this awkward stage was squirreling away manure laden hay in my clothes closet in the bedroom to create a barn-like aroma. Seemed a grand idea at the time, my sister had other thoughts. Mother held to the premise and hoped that I would soon relinquish this uncommon interest in all things sweaty of the equine persuasion. This was not to be.
I have recently celebrated my 61st birthday, with my third divorce imminent, I've purchased twenty-eight acres of hay fields with a small brick ranch house in a very rural, but lovely part of Texas. My four Arabians are my greatest delight and my steadfast companions. They are a part of me as the very breath I breathe. The only matters of the heart more precious to me in this life are my two sons and their beautiful families.
The first book I designed and published in 1998, Arabians from the camera of Johnny Johnston was a challenge as I learned about design, layout, flow, color, and the whole of the business of creating a work worthy of its namesake, the Arabian horse. This book is a high quality coffee-table book that has garnered me commercial as well as creative success. Arabians from the camera of Johnny Johnston is available through Amazon.com, my personal website...Boldheart.com, and by special request from your local book stores. It is a timeless expression of love for the Arabian horse.
This elegant book was created with the purpose of publishing the classic, powerful, fun and dramatic photography of my then 2nd husband, Johnny Johnston. Arabians from the camera of Johnny Johnston was a work of love and belief. Today it still thrills and creates awe as page after page displays Mr. Johnston's magical talent with horses and a camera. Timeless...this book truly is. It is a gift of distinction that will last a lifetime.
It has not been in me to be a particularly religious person, but even I can recognize a message. For several months a year or so back, I had been toying with writing again. Even made some good starts and was beginning to consider adding children's books to my portfolio. My sister, we share a sisterly love in spite of our considerable differences, wrote me an email asking if I had given thought to writing children's books about horses...out of the blue. Writing back I was compelled to know what force caused her to ask such a question. One word answer...GOD. Hmmmm.
Clearly it was time to get my life together, pull out the pencils and yellow pad and go to work. So I have. Stories began to tumble from my lead onto the pages. Characters appeared and took on lives of their own and Bill, the Horse moseyed into my heart. I am spending a lot of my days and nights with Bill, the Horse now and it feels right.
I am excited and impatient to bring you an entirely different kind of book, a children's storey book about Bill, the Horse. Look for Bill, the Horse and all his friends, as they canter through life's adventures, to melt your heart and delight your children in 2012.
Thank you all for your wonderful responses and continued support of Arabians from the camera of Johnny Johnston.
maggie nicol
