About

Jonathon Herrmann

An Autobiography

Jonathon Frederick Herrmann is his name, but most people call him Jony.  He lives in Yuba City, but was born in Walnut Creek, much too early. In June, nineteen ninety, towards the end of his mom’s 6th month of pregnancy, he came into this world. He has four sisters and two foster siblings and yet, he was the unique one in his family because he was born deaf. His family embraced his deafness, enrolled him in the school for the deaf at the age of three, and learned American Sign Language (ASL). ASL is not a written language, but rather a signed language where facial gestures and body language are all indicators of mood and or emotion. He wears a hearing aid on the right ear and in 2022, he received a Cochlea implant on the left ear. The Cochlea implant allows him to hear new things like putting one’s hand in a pocket makes sound, bubble wrap is fun and makes a popping sound, and birds talk (chirp) in the morning. Nonetheless, being deaf has made him a very visual person because he believes that when one of our biological systems fail, other systems only become more receptive which is a great ability to have in photography, and as a photographer.

Jony received his associate degree from Yuba Community College and studied under mentors like Professor Eric Baral, Richard Murai, Anna De’ Silva and Danita Cook. During that time, he explored the basic, intermediate, and advanced camera operations, black and white processing and printing, advanced darkroom processing, zone systems, large format cameras, studio lighting, digital processes, and documentary style. As Jony grew, so did his artistic visions. He used digital photography, exposure control, file formats, archiving, image editing and manipulation using Adobe Photoshop, to produce his first Photo Book. It’s about the extraordinary people that were serving, above and beyond, in their communities during the Covid pandemic, Doordash drivers. In addition, he’s creating a second photographic book on the historical rise and removal of the 5th Street Bridge.

Jony wrote that his journey as a photographer, post college, is unsure and not sure where it may lead. Ansel Adams wrote in his Autobiography that he couldn’t command creative impulses on demand, nor know in advance what he would photograph, that one must go out into the world and hope something of interest comes along. Therefore, as someone who has always wanted to be a photographer, Jony will go out in the world and start snapping images. He will take photos at Sacramento’s Kings game, gorgeous landscape scenes at Yosemite National Park, parachute out a plane over the Grand Canyon while snapping photos, as he free falls to earth. The possibilities are endless!