Video Poetry

of Johnnie Xel
Video, next to food, is one of my first loves. The moving image captured my attention by the time I was five years old. During high school, we had a full on video studio to learn “like the pros.”

After high school I drifted, but continued my pursuit of images through photography. Then I went to college for video and film. I learned pre-digital editing. How to shoot, light and edit scenes. I attended and volunteered in workshops that included such great DP’s as Vilmos Zigmund, and writers like Howard Hawkes. I could have pursued the dream to Hollywood, alas, I chose to stay in my beloved Tucson.

The love of the moving image has not left me. I am constantly recording images and then piecing them together into videos and sharing them with you.

In the videos below I’ve married the love of Poetry and Spoken word with video. PoetSpeak is an older series, created through AccessTucson in Arizona. 30 Days/30 Poems was my celebration of National Poetry Month of 2017 (April). Finally, I do attempt to capture poets in their native environments. I was lucky enough to find Joy Young, Louise Robertson, and Becky Byrkit rocking the mic at {9}Gallery in Phoenix, AZ. Please enjoy these offerings, and look for more video poetry coming soon.

 Contact Johnnie

To purchase prints of any of the art or photographs contact Johnnie at

johnniexel@gmail.com