John Fontana - Photographer
Minneapolis based photographer John Fontana was influenced at an early age by his Great Aunt Jean when she would visit from Madrid, Spain. She was an avid traveler and photography enthusiast who carried two cameras while Fontana carried one as they visited areas in Madison, WI snapping away at every opportunity.
Growing up, his interest in photography was a constant, even though, in his teen years street skating and building launch ramps claimed the spotlight and dominated up until college. Four years of higher education and a B.A. in Spanish and International Relations, Rhode Island beckoned and he moved to the East coast to work at Brown University. All the while he kept shooting and creating work for himself and documenting areas of everyday life that piqued his curiosity. After a year, Fontana returned to the Midwest and had a deep wanderlust to go abroad. He obtained his ESL Certification in Barcelona, Spain and began teaching English eventually ending up in Rome, Italy. The camera was still his constant companion and he continued to scrape up Pesetas and Lire for film to capture moments of the world around him. Countless lessons later, teaching heads of state within the Italian government, computer programmers, lawyers and middle school kids alike, the call of photography grew stronger and he could no longer ignore the pull to pursue a more in depth and formal education. Santa Barbara, CA became his new home as he attended Brooks Institute of Photography. With a 4x5 view camera, film and access to the darkroom, his level of knowledge jumped from novice to serious student, and all the while developing a deep love of color transparency sheet film; glowing back at him from the light table. It was a unique time when most classes were still taught using film and they shot a lot of it, in all formats and flavors. In a sporadic move back to the Midwest, Fontana settled in Flint, MI and photographed many projects for the Performing Arts Cultural Center and the Sloan Museum while working separately at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. His role at “the Ford” was a specialist in the photographic archives, assessing negatives (including Nitrates – the combustible ones) and rehousing them in acid free enclosures for future generations to reference. Two years later, Fontana found himself back in Madison working in the Oscar Mayer Photo Studio. Many hot dogs, and Deli Creations packaging shoots later, John was itching for a bigger market and considered Minneapolis, MN. The decision didn’t take long, and in the Fall of 2008, he made the leap up North. He set up meetings with every photographer possible and started making inroads into the community, however, there was one very elusive and hard to reach photographer – Jonathan Chapman. After months of text messages, phone calls and emails, he finally had a time and day to meet at his office. Little did Fontana know after that meeting, he had just met his mentor, creative partner, and most importantly, close friend that would span for more than a decade. His official title on the business card was Producer / Studio Manager, but this was only one of the many roles he took on at Jonathan Chapman Photography - JCP. With only the two of them in the office full time, and a calendar bursting with scheduled projects, life was busy. In fact, the job was his life and he dedicated everything he had to learning the business behind the desk, out on location, and everywhere in-between to help build a successful and reputable photography business with Jonathan. Many could only imagine the daily life they had, traveling to Europe, Asia, Australia and all over the US for photo and video projects working with top agencies and Fortune 500 companies including Samsung, McDonald’s, Purina, Panasonic, Ford Motor Co., Best Buy, General Mills, Land O’ Lakes, Medtronic and many more. As a creative team, they had the ability to problem solve and come up with on-the-spot solutions to unforeseen problems and come out of it with beautiful imagery and happy clients.
Striking out on his own has been an adventure and a process of rediscovering himself outside of his former position at JCP. Most recently, Fontana has created compelling imagery for Johnson Health Tech’s – Matrix fitness equipment brand, Kimberly Clark, Winfield, and others. He continues to build upon his knowledge and expertise with each new project that comes up. John Fontana currently resides in Minneapolis and splits his time between New York and Warsaw, Poland.
As a side project through fonicbloom productions, he is currently working on a feature length documentary about his Great Aunt Jean’s photography work starting in the 1950’s through her passing in 2020.
