PHOTO: Growing up, Johna Denault spent hours on her homework due to her dyslexia. To find an escape from the stress, she turned to photography.
"When I was 12, I started taking photos with my parents' Sears35MM camera," she said. "I took photos of nature and really enjoyed taking action shots. From then on, I knew I wanted to explore photography as a career." As an adult, she enrolled in photography classes at College of DuPage.
"I knew my limitations and strengths, and I took every photography class COD offered to hone my skills," Denault said.
Receiving high accolades from her COD photography professors, Denault was determined to turn her passion into a career. She began taking portraits of firefighters in her local community, which eventually led her to a somewhat unconventional career as a fire photographer.
"The fire chief posted my portraits to social media, and I wasn't happy with how they turned out because it wasn't showing the firemen doing their craft," she said.