At Southern Miss, the coliseum is full, and in the air is a mixture of pride and nerves. Families are clapping for their sons and daughters, and all eyes are pointed at the soon to be graduates.
For the man behind the lens, however, there is no space for distractions. Every student represents one opportunity to get the shot he or she will remember for the rest of their lives. He is focused on keeping the camera steady because graduation allows no second chances. This is the pressure of the perfect shot.
“When I first started, I would hold my breath to make sure my shot was clear,” said Arbaneze “AJ” Johnson, 33-year-old USM’s staff photographer from Canton. With time, pressure slightly faded, and experience took over. “I have never missed a shot I needed,” he said. “And if the shot is important, I just hold down the shutter button.”
Johnson’s passion for photography started long before he got to Southern Miss. When he was a kid, he would watch his mom organize family pictures every year and be mesmerized by it.
“I have always been intrigued by the process of taking photos,” said Johnson. “It just stuck with me.”
Behind his confidence is a meticulous preparation routine. His bag is always ready to go: clean lenses and cameras, charged batteries and backup equipment. Johnson shoots every event as if it were the most important one of the year, because he never knows which image will be the one joining our campus’s collective memory.
However, photography has not always been Johnson’s plan. “I wanted to become an athletic trainer,” said Johnson. “Then I joined the Air Force, and everything changed.”
With his first paycheck, he bought his first camera and started to take pictures of his friends as a hobby. It was when it started posting his pictures online that people started asking him for full sessions. Since then, he never stopped.
“Last Saturday, I captured the shot I was chasing,” said Johnson. After navigating the busy tailgating area set up for the Southern Miss vs. Mississippi State football game and making it to the field, he thought he had missed the players’ entrance. Defeated, he turned around to head to the field. However, the perfect shot was waiting for him. The star player, Josh Moten, was facing the field, taking it all in before the big game. Just like that, following his instinct, Johnson captured a shot packed with emotions. The perfect shot.
As a staff photographer, Johnson’s job is not only about capturing sports events and graduations. At the heart of his job are the people: their emotions, their smiles and their insecurities too.
“The best part of my job is to capture moments that tell a story,” said Johnson. “More than anything I like to photograph people who never had a professional photo taken of them. Seeing their smile when they look back at the picture is something priceless.
“My goal is to make it a special moment even for someone who does not like to have their pictures taken,” he said. A photographer’s job is to capture a moment that will be remembered by generations. To snap the picture that will make the yearbook, the family album, or a mom’s Facebook feed. The responsibility is great, but Johnson embraces it with pride.
However, his job is not always easy. One of the biggest challenges is complicated clients.
“There are always people who want more for less, and it is hard to work with them,” said Johnson. “Some come late to their appointments, and some don’t even show up. In those cases, you must find a compromise and be professional.”
For many students, these pictures become memories of their greatest milestones. Brooke Byrd, a healthcare marketing graduate student at Southern Miss, recalls the day she walked across the graduation stage.
“I was so nervous that everything felt so blurry,” she said. “I did not even realize what was happening. All I heard in my head was: do not trip and fall on stage!”
It was only a few days after, when she got Jonson’s pictures, that she realized how special that moment felt.
“When I saw those pictures, it was almost like reliving the moment in a way I could not do when I was actually on stage,” Byrd said. “I could see my genuine smile. That was not a pose; I hate those kinds of pictures. But when I saw those, I almost got emotional.”
For Byrd, these images became more than just simple memories. Looking at them she felt everything she was too overwhelmed to feel when she walked the stage, “and that’s something I will cherish forever,” she said.
More than a participant in campus life, Johnson admits he feels more like an observer. While students, professors and families live the events firsthand, he stays a step behind. This is fundamental, as this observer position allows him to notice and capture details that others cannot see: a handshake, a smile, or a tear on a proud parent’s cheek.
“The secret,” said Johnson, “is to wait for the right moment. Wait for that feeling and be aware of your surroundings.” Johnson’s priority when shooting is to follow a timeline. “I like to tell a story through my pictures. If you look at my camera roll, you will see all the action from the beginning to the end of the event.” Capturing a perfect moment does not come easy, but following a timeline is what helped Johnson perfect his work throughout the years.
In the end, this is his gift to Southern Miss: not just pictures, but stories that live through images. Every click is a piece of our campus history, a way to stop time and allow students, professors and families to relive unique emotions after many years. All this, thanks to many perfect shots.