Johnathon is an editorial photographer working on long-form projects related to history and race in the American South.
Raised in the Florida Panhandle, Kelso now lives with his wife and four children just outside of Atlanta in Decatur, Georgia.
Permanent Collections
The Johnathon Kelso Alabama Sacred Harp Collection, Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, AL
Solo Exhibitions
Sweet Communion: The Johnathon Kelso Alabama Sacred Harp Collection, Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, AL Feb 2018
I Want to Die A-Shouting, The Ventulett Gallery, Atlanta, GA May 2017
Georgia Avenue Community Ministry Project, Mason Fine Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA, April 2017
I Want to Die A-Shouting, Slow Exposures, Zebulon, GA, September 2016
Highways and Byways: A Southern Revelation, One Twelve Gallery, Atlanta, GA, August 2014
I Want to Die A-Shouting, Twist Art Gallery, Nashville, TN, September 2013
Group Exhibitions
Massillon Museum: Looking at Appalachia, Massillon, OH, March, 2019
Slow Exposures: Celebrating Photography of the Rural South, Cochran Gallery, Lagrange GA, Sept. 2016
Atlanta Photography Group Gallery, Mary Stanley Selects, Atlanta, GA, October 2015
Slideluck Photo Exhibition, Ambient + Studio, Atlanta, GA, October 2012
Three Squared Gallery, Grounded, Nashville, TN, December 2011
In Print / 2019-2022
Atlanta Magazine, Athens Homeless Encampment, July 26, 2023
The New York Times, The Nap Bishop is Spreading the Good Word: Rest, October 13, 2022
The New Yorker, Can Anyone Unseat Marjorie Taylor Greene?, March 24, 2022
The New York Times, Inside the High-Stakes Race to Test the Covid Tests, March 15, 2022
The New York Times, Halting Progress and Happy Accidents: How mRNA Vaccines Were Made, January 15, 2022
The New York Times, How Nursing Homes’ Worst Offenses Are Hidden From the Public, December 9, 2021
NPR, Race, Masks and Vaccines are Fueling School Board Threats, October, 21, 2021
Stern Magazine, America’s Crushed Soul: Trauma from the September 11 Attacks, September 9, 2021
The New York Times, For Some College Students, Remote Learning Is a Game Changer, August 24, 2021
Society Magazine, Snakes in the Blood, June 24, 2021
The New York Times, Starbucks, Flush With Customers, Is Running Low on Ingredients, June 10, 2021
The Bitter Southerner, This is Paradise, April 20, 2021
The Guardian Weekend, Meet the new generation of male knitters, April 10, 2021
The Guardian, The father, the son and the racist spirit: being raised by a white supremacist, March 31, 2021
The New York Times, From the Scene: Devastating Tornadoes Batter the Southeast, March 26, 2021
The New York Times, This Drug Gets You High, and Is Legal (Maybe) Across the Country, February 27, 2021
Society Magazine, An International Caste of Satan-worshiping Pedophiles Controls the World, January 27, 2021
The New York Times, Keep the Trains and Buses Running, January 21, 2021
La Vie Magazine, Votez Dolly Parton!, December 28, 2020
The New York Times, Jean Graetz, White Supporter of Civil Rights in Alabama, Dies at 90, December 19, 2020
The New York Times, ‘Nobody Sees Us’: Testing-Lab Workers Strain Under Demand, December 3, 2020
Bloomberg Businessweek, Covid Long Haulers Tell us Their Symptoms and the Aftereffects of the Disease, November 9, 2020
Le Figaro, Evangelicals Still Have Faith in Donald Trump, October 29, 2020
The Guardian, Meet the Voters Standing by Donald Trump, October 24, 2020
Bloomberg Businessweek, The Nine Types of Voters Who Will Decide 2020, September 1, 2020
The Guardian, ‘It should have been long ago’: Majority-Black US City Elects First Black Officials, August 26, 2020
The Intercept, The Battle for Decatur - PFAS Contamination Divides and Alabama Town, August 23, 2020
The New York Times, Racism Makes a Liar of God, August 6, 2020
Atlanta Magazine, What It’s Like To Be a Hospital Chaplain In a Pandemic, July 13, 2020
The New York Times, ‘Let Freedom Ring’ From Georgia, June 26, 2020
Stern Magazine, Racism in the United States - the Lynching of Ahmaud Arbery, May 29, 2020
The New York Times, Man Who Filmed Ahmaud Arbery’s Death is Charged with Murder, May 21, 2020
The New York Times, Where the Sidewalk Begins, May 17, 2020
Bloomberg Businessweek, Motel Industry Turmoil Blocks Indian-American Path to Prosperity, May 15, 2020
The New York Times, How Wall Street Is Hampering Some Small Businesses Seeking Aid, May 15, 2020
Atlanta Magazine, The Race Against COVID-19, May 1, 2020
Rolling Stone, Coronavirus Crisis: Snapshot of Atlanta, April 16, 2020
The New York Times, Doctors Are Writing Their Wills, March 26, 2020
The New York Times, These Doctors Have Specialties. Fighting Coronavirus Wasn’t One of Them, March 23, 2020
The Guardian, The Majority-Black City Blocked From Electing Black Officials, February 28, 2020
The Guardian, Alabama Blocked a Man From Voting Because He Owed $4, February 27, 2020
The New York Times, Lil Baby Might Be Rap’s Most Reluctant New Star, February 26, 2020
The New York Times, American Life Expectancy Rises for First Time in Four Years, January 30, 2020
Bloomberg Green, The Future of Recycling Is Sanitation Workers Rejecting Your Bin, January 29, 2020
NPR, Effort To Control Opioids In An ER Leaves Some Sickle Cell Patients In Pain, January 2, 2020
Atlanta Magazine, What Makes us Atlantans - Cover Story, December 30, 2019
Atlanta Magazine, A Disability Advocate Explains the Joys—and Challenges—of Navigating Atlanta, December 19, 2019
Inc. Magazine, This Atlanta Store's Holiday Display Takes 7 Months of Planning and 7 Weeks of Labor to Pull Off, December 5, 2019
The New York Times, How a Divided Left Is Losing the Battle on Abortion, December 1, 2019
SZ Magazin, The Strange Father - Cover Story, November 21, 2019
The Bitter Southerner, The Dark End of the South, November 18, 2019
The New York Times, They Are What You Eat, September 17, 2019
EnRoute Magazine (Air Canada), North Carolina’s Handcrafted Denim Comeback, August 26, 2019
The Bitter Southerner, The Vanishing Stories of the Bullard Brothers, August 26, 2019
The New York Times, A Nun, a Doctor and a Lawyer — and Deep Regret Over the Nation’s Handling of Opioids, August 18, 2019
NPR, How Georgia Became A Surprising Bright Spot In The U.S. Solar Industry, June 24, 2019
The New York Times, Shannon Watts’s Work Diary: The Demanding Job of Running ‘Moms Demand Action’, June 6, 2019
The New York Times, Hollywood Invested Big in Georgia. A New Abortion Law Is Causing Some Tensions., May 23, 2019
The New York Times, Both Parents Are American. The U.S. Says Their Baby Isn’t., May 21, 2019
The New York Times, ‘Knitting Is Coding’ and Yarn Is Programmable in This Physics Lab, May 17, 2019
The New York Times, When Office Buildings Go Beyond Green, April 23, 2019
The New York Times, Stacey Abrams, After Narrow Loss, Has Some Decisions to Make, March 5, 2019
The New York Times, Where Books Meet Black Mecca, February 9, 2019
The New York Times, Stocking Up at an Airline’s Garage Sale, January 16, 2019