Robert O.
’Tis said that some cultures, especially in the early days of cameras, believed a bit of your soul was stolen when someone photographed you. In the case of Robert O. Johnson the opposite is perhaps more likely. Through the process of taking a picture, he may have gifted a bit of his soul to his subject in the photo, and it lingers there in the paper until the last of the chemical-induced image fades away to nothing. “I absolutely think that’s the case,” agrees Marsha Yeilding, daughter of the Albertville photographer. Known as Robert O., for 61 years he photographed people and events across Sand Mountain and beyond – including portraits of Alabama governors, President Jimmy Carter and his mother – thus perhaps sharing a bit of his soul while touching the lives of legions. “I would say it had to be thousands he touched by the time you take into account all of the class pictures and all of the large groups and weddings,” says Dennis Burgess, a long-time friend. “It was easily in the thousands. The stamp he placed on Albertville history cannot be measured. I look back in time, and it’s hard to fathom.” If Robert O.’s photography touched many lives, then the flash did not fire far from the camera. His father, J. Willie Johnson, moved to Albertville from St. Clair County days after the “cyclone” of 1908 turned much of the town into matchsticks. As reported in the first part of this two-part story, J. Willie came to open a photography studio, and for at least 40 years shot pictures of countless people and events across Sand Mountain. Robert O., the youngest of his five children, worked in the studio as a young boy. “At first I didn’t like it much because I had jobs like sweeping and cleaning up,” Robert O. said in a 1991 story in The Sand Mountain Reporter. That changed.
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fter graduating from Albertville High School in 1942, Robert O. served in World War II aboard a submarine tender. 56
Story by David Moore Photos provided by Dennis Burgess and Marsha Johnson Yeilding It was years before he talked about the war, says Marsha, now of Vestavia, and even then he never mentioned any interest in photography during WWII. “But he always knew he would come back and go into that business,” she says. In 1946-1948, he studied photography at what was part of the former University of Chattanooga, then returned home to work with J. Willie. Wedding photos were a staple for them. “When I first started, my biggest territory was Gadsden in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s,” Robert O. said in a Gadsden Times story printed for his retirement in March 2009. Gregarious by nature, Robert O. enjoyed shooting these and other social engagements, but he absolutely loved shooting school photos, especially for his alma mater. “Whether they were portraits of students, clubs, events or sports, he was at the high school every day shooting pictures,” Marsha says. “I think his lifeline was young kids … they kept him young.” Albertville’s yearbook, “The Mountaineer,” was a beneficiary of Robert O.’s photography from 19481989. “The yearbooks won a lot of state awards with his professional photography in them,” Marsha says. His work was appreciated. In 1998, AHS honored the photographer for 50 years of service. And in 2011 he was
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inducted into the inaugural class of the Albertville High School Hall of Fame.
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wo other avenues through which countless people came face to face with the lenses of Robert O.’s Crown Graphic, Hasselblad and Nikon cameras were The Sand Mountain Reporter and the former Albertville Herald. His photos in this story came from his years at the Herald. When it was absorbed by the Reporter in 1964, at least some of the Herald’s archives went to Jack Thompson, who took over the building for his print shop, says Dennis. Jack and Dennis, a former director for Adams Funeral Home, were friends. Knowing Dennis’s love of local history, Jack later bequeathed to him 100-150 of Robert O.’s photos from the Herald. “I took over his picture archives,” says Dennis, who shared the images with GLM. “As long as they fell into good hands and they would be taken care of, which I have sought to do.” Dennis was also friends with Robert O., making the transfer all the more fitting. Robert O. also provided news, sports, social and advertising photos to the Reporter for years and was close to former publisher Pat Courington and newly named publisher Shannon Allen, a longtime sports editor. Interestingly, Marsha says, her father wasn’t paid for his many newspaper photos. Rather, he did it to market himself and was glad to work for photo credits and free ads for his studio.
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or the record, “O.” stands for Owen. Robert Johnson, Marsha
