In Memoriam: Ron Johanson, ACS (1949-2025)

Ron Johanson, ACS, a former president of the Australian Cinematographers Society recognized for furthering the organization at home and abroad, died June 28 at the age of 76.

A recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the arts in 2014, the Melbourne native started in the industry as a 16-year-old messenger and quickly moved into the camera department, where he worked his way up to lighting cameraman in five years. After a brief period of freelancing, he joined Martin Williams Films in Queensland as a director/cinematographer on commercials and documentaries. In 1980, he founded the Roly Poly Picture Co., which he led for the rest of his career, directing and/or shooting commercials, TV series, documentaries and features. Among his feature-cinematography credits were Scott Hicks’ directorial debut, Freedom (1982), and Joseph Van Winkle’s The Woman Inside (1981).

Johanson became a member of the ACS in 1992 and served the organization in a variety of leadership roles: president of the Queensland branch for more than a decade, vice president of the Society for five years, and president of the Society for 14 years. In remarks posted on the ACS website, friend and colleague Ernie Clark, ACS noted that Johanson was instrumental in establishing the Society’s first national headquarters, in creating a branch of the organization in every state and territory, and in guiding the 2012 publication of The Shadowcatchers, a history of cinematography in Australia. Clark added that during Johanson’s tenure as president, the ACS was honored with the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts’ Byron Kennedy Award, “the first time a guild rather than an individual had been recognized.”

Johanson also served Australia’s cinematography community on the world stage, representing his country in Imago, the International Federation of Cinematographers; he was elected co-president of that organization in 2021. A tribute posted on Imago’s website June 30 called Johanson’s legacy “vast — not only in the images he helped create, but in the people he inspired, the institutions he built, and the spirit of generosity and camaraderie he embodied.”

Johanson was inducted into the ACS Hall of Fame in 2005 and was honored with lifetime membership in 2007. His awards in the advertising world included two Cannes Lions, three Mobius Awards, four New York Festivals International Advertising Awards and two ACS Gold Tripods.