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John Willis is a photographer whose personal work and teaching typically fall within the social documentary genre, engaging with communities through his projects. He considers volunteer service and community engagement work to be an essential part of his life. He has served as an adjunct professor at the Rhode Island School of Design since 2020 and is a Professor Emeritus at Marlboro College, where he taught from 1990 until the college's closing in 2020. Willis is the recipient of prestigious grants and fellowships including the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in Photography (2010) and the Open Society Institute Community Engagement Grant. His photographs are part of numerous permanent collections such as the Center for Creative Photography, George Eastman House, Getty Museum, Library of Congress, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, National Gallery of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Bibliothèque nationale de France, and Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. Willis' published works include titles like 'Mni Wiconi/Water Life: Honoring Water Protectors', 'Views from the Reservation', and 'Recycled Realities'. He also collaborated on a project that became a short experimental film designed as an art installation, influenced by his deep connection to the Lakota tribes through his family’s history.
Rhode Island School of Design • Providence, RI
Adjunct professor teaching photography and social documentary methods.
Marlboro College • Marlboro, VT
Taught photography and engaged in community-based art projects.