Carl August Johansen III

A year ago today I went to a memorial service for a good friend and relative of mine. His name was Carl Johansen.

He was a soft-spoken photographer and musician that spent most of his life in Pullman, Washington. When I was living in Moscow, Idaho he would venture over from Pullman (he didn’t have a car or license) to share his extensive photo albums with me.

I inherited some of his things … so I looked through some of his photographs and chose a few to share on the anniversary of his memorial.

[some photos by Carl Johansen – no Photoshop here]

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He enjoyed taking pictures of his television. I had a “Twin Peaks” moment when I found two full rolls of film that he had shot of his TV while watching “Twin Peaks”. I think David Lynch would be proud.

Carl hoped to someday simultaneously watch “Alien” and “The Elephant Man” on two screens at the same time. I don’t know if he ever got the chance, but I promise I’ll try it at some point.

I will always admire his courage to continue on and be creative in the face of his personal struggles. It was harder for him than most people, and yet he managed to take literally thousands of pictures, write music and share it with his friends and family.