Asa Johannesson

Asa Johannesson is a Senior Lecturer in Photography at the School of Art and Media, University of Brighton. She teaches across both the BA (Hons) Photography and MA Photography programmes, integrating practice and theory in her pedagogy. She is also an active researcher, PhD supervisor, and external examiner, with affiliations including Ulster University and institutions in Sweden and Australia.

Her educational background includes a PhD from the Royal College of Art (2020), an MA in Photography from the same institution (2009), and a BA (Hons) in Photographic Arts from the University of Westminster (2006). She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (awarded 2020).

Her research centers on queer theory, new materialism, and photographic practice, exploring how artistic strategies can generate queer knowledge. She emphasizes materiality, agency, and voice in photography, working across installation, writing, and studio experimentation. Her monograph Queer Methodology for Photography (2024) is a major contribution to the field, proposing a fusion of practice and theory beyond traditional identity representation.

The recent research outputs reflect a consistent engagement with queer articulation, materiality, and critical photography. Themes span from Polaroid manipulation and sculptural photography to museum critique and nonbinary representation. Her work bridges conceptual depth with technical innovation, often using analogue processes like the 5x4" plate camera and Polaroid emulsion techniques.

She actively supervises PhD students in areas such as feminist and queer photographic practices, posthumanism, and process-led research. She has served as an external examiner at Ulster University and has examined MFA and PhD theses internationally, including at HDK-Valand (Sweden) and RMIT University (Australia).

Her artistic practice is exhibited widely, with solo shows in Brighton, London, Stockholm, and Sweden. Notable exhibitions include The Queering of Photography (2024, Willmot Gallery) and And I wanted to see it: my queerness in the best light (2023, Dorset Gallery). Her group exhibitions span the UK, Europe, and Asia, affirming her international presence in contemporary photographic art.