www.JonahAllen.com
Jonah Allen is a master of movement. As an avid surfer, he’s watchful of the tidal
routines—his body acquainted with the patterns of wave upon wave. As a musician, he
holds deep within him an understanding of rhythm and beat, and the flow of music
through a person’s being. And as a photographer, he encapsulates movement in a
frame, a perfect balance of the beauty of nature and the human interpretation of it that
results in magnificent, large-scale images of the ever-changing, always-moving coastal
waters.
Jonah—originally from Atlanta, Georgia, and now a 30A Florida local—has put to
print the emotion that has long drawn visitors and lifelong residents to the Florida Gulf
Coast. An accomplished photographer utilizing aerial views, in-water angles, and vistas
from the shore, Jonah finds his art captures the nature all around him in a way that
drives folks to experience nature themselves. According to the Alys Gazette, “His keen
eye for the colors of the coastline has made his name a staple in the beachside
communities of Northwest Florida and his work an essential expression of the feeling
only those who have visited the region truly understand.”
For the past 10 years, Jonah has been exploring his passion by utilizing the
pristine waters of the Gulf, its rippling estuaries and dune lakes, and the soft white
sands that surround them as both subject and muse. Each evocative photograph is
made with great skill and a deep appreciation for the environment he captures.
While one will find his artwork perfectly accenting spaces throughout the 30A area,
Jonah’s work has also found its way across the country and throughout the globe, in
every place inspiring the viewer and eliciting the feelings that arise within the heart
when one’s toes meet the sand and the surf.
Allen was born in 1993 in Atlanta, Georgia and currently works in Santa Rosa
Beach, Florida. He received his Minor in Fine Arts with an emphasis in photography and
BBA in Marketing from the University of Georgia in 2016. In the few years, Allen has
exhibited work at the Gardner Colby Gallery in Naples, Florida, and opened his own
gallery in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.
Early exposure to surfing and the power of the ocean formulated the
development of his photographic work. Yet, Allen grew up landlocked. For 23 years, he
longed to live by the sea. This separation from the ocean further drove his curiosity and
obsession with water. In 2017, he embarked on a journey camping around the world,
chasing waves, and light in Central America, South America, Europe, and Asia. He
returned to the Gulf Coast in Early 2018 – the place that first inspired his love for the
sea.
Since then, he has amassed a substantial portfolio of work surrounding the
watercourses of the Gulf. Constantly at play in Jonah Allen’s photographs is the
ephemeral relationship between water and light. His deep knowledge of the ocean
allows him to capture intimate moments with energy in one of its rawest forms. Allen’s
most recent work, “Receded Time,” is a series of images that explores sand’s ability to
show the passage of time. On the surface, this collection is based on the allure of
natural fractal phenomenon in nature. But, sand is a medium that leaves a visual trace
of the element that altered it. Whether it’s weathered, eroded, or deposited, there is
evidence of what has taken place around the sand. Thus, the history of things is
available in a single moment, something Allen’s strives to achieve in every image.
Jonah just recently published his first coffee table boom titled “Where Waters
Meet”, which is an aerial study of the 30A Coastline. In the book, viewers discover the
story of the dune lakes and coastline of Walton County, Florida as told through over 424
pages, exquisitely reproduced aerial photographs that inspire awe and challenge how
you see the world. Featuring never before seen images from Jonah’s archive and
personal essays that invite you on an intimate journey through the sky above 30A, this
book is a voice for the landscape in the face of a rapidly developing world.
Watch Jonah Allen’s 8 minute Documentary Here:
https://www.jonahallen.com/documentary
Watch Jonah’s installation at the Beach Club at Alys Beach:
https://blog.jonahallen.com/alys-beach-club/
