Ozark Stock LLC is a licensed business in the state of Missouri and operates as Ozark Stock Photography, John S. Stewart, JS Photo Art, and OSB Publishing.
Ozark Stock was founded 1987 by John S. Stewart in response to a growing demand for stock photography from the Ozarks and Branson, Missouri, following the “Branson Boom,” which brought prominent entertainers and music theatres to the Ozarks’ town. During that period through the 1990s, Ozark Stock had a brick-and-mortar office in downtown Springfield and met clients face to face or via FedX, sending 35mm and 120mm transparencies to publications and agencies nationwide.
Even though film images were the norm in the 1990s, Ozark Stock embraced the computerization of its catalog system to find and distribute imagery to clients quickly.
The 2000s brought change to the industry, and Ozark Stock evolved by producing images digitally and digitalizing much of its library of film images. Images from the library are now licensed through online stock photography agencies listed HERE.
John S. Stewart was born in Springfield, Missouri, where he was woven into a traditional middle-class Midwestern lifestyle. During the summer, he played baseball, swam, cut grass for money, and went to camp, typical activities for a public school student.
Magazines at the Stewart house, like “Life,” “Look,” and “National Geographic,” interested him. They showed him events and cultures from far away and from nearby. This interested him.
After studying biology and environmental science at Drury College, he pursued a photojournalism degree at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He began his career by taking freelance photos for local papers, a city magazine, and groups that wanted a photojournalistic look.
He worked briefly from 1976 to 1978 on two community newspapers in the Ozarks, The Salem News, and The Lebanon Daily Record, He has focused on the Ozarks, aside from two assignments in Central America, because he believes compelling story visuals are accessible locally and are best conveyed by residents who know the area.
Working in an area within 100 miles from his home in Springfield, Missouri, his photography assignments came from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Kansas City Star, The Chicago Tribune, The Toronto Star, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated, The Village Voice, The Associated Press, USA Today, and more. Travel and lifestyle assignments include many of the above metropolitan newspapers and local and regional travel magazines.
In 2026 he released a photographic memoir titled, LEFT eye STORIES using images from his work spanning 50 years as a photojournalist. The stories accompanying these photographs are the backstories behind the assignments and his experiences.
