Johanna Turner | Bio

Johanna Turner

Photographer / Based in Reseda

Johanna Turner has lived in Los Angeles since July 2000. Having grown up in Western New York's farm country, she was excited to move to California where wild mountain lions were rumored to roam. The ensuing 23 years have seen... read on
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Available in: Reseda
Years of experience: More than 10
Johanna Turner has lived in Los Angeles since July 2000. Having grown up in Western New York's farm country, she was excited to move to California where wild mountain lions were rumored to roam. The ensuing 23 years have seen important changes in conservation. We now recognize the importance of mountain lions and the extreme challenges they face to survive and our fear of living beside them has diminished.

Camera trap photography lets people see wildlife that would otherwise be 'out of sight, out of mind'. Not content with early technology producing grainy black and white 'trailcam' images, Johanna developed custom DSLR camera trap setups with a goal of revealing the full beauty and complexity of urban wildlife. Her donated prints have raised funds to preserve hundreds of acres of habitat for wildlife with groups including Arroyos and Foothills Conservancy, Transition Habitat Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation and of course SAMO Fund. She is an Advisory Committee Member of Cougar Conservancy which works to reduce human/cougar conflict and protect pets and livestock animals, allowing domestic and wild animals to coexist. This year Johanna achieved a Level III trailing certification from Cybertracker, a worldwide tracking organization.

She was selected as one of Disney Conservation Fund's 2019 "Conservation Heroes" for her work changing public perception of sharing space with large carnivores and contributed data for a study using camera traps to determine population density and habitat use of multiple species in Southern California.

Johanna's images have been featured in Discover Magazine, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, published ecological studies and nonfiction books, and her video work can be seen in documentaries on Apple TV, National Geographic Channel and Disney Plus.