John Stewart Jr

I am a product of war. Long before I held a camera, I learned to be still — first because stillness kept me alive, later because a martial arts hall taught me to master it, and now because the wild has taught me to see by it.

John Stewart Jr is a fine art documentary photographer working across wildlife and the human spirit. His work spans six continents — from the pack ice of Antarctica, through the plains of Africa, to the Himalayan monasteries of Bhutan. Trained at Central Saint Martins and Ravensbourne College London in moving image, and accepted to the Royal College of Art — the world's most selective postgraduate institution — he chose the world over the classroom. The body of work that followed is his answer to that choice.

Working under the name Nomadic F.28 ISO — wide open, letting the world in as it is — Stewart approaches each expedition as a witness. He arrives. He waits. He disappears. And then he photographs what insists on being seen.

His work rests on a simple thesis: survival is not only biological, it is cultural — taught, carried, and chosen, in a world beyond survival mathematics.

I photograph the will to live.

Select images are released as single pieces — once collected, they will not be reoffered as a pri...

Central Saint Martins, London — Moving Image
Ravensbourne College, London — Moving Image
Accepted, Royal College of Art (chose the world over the classroom)