When you ask a photographer what the most important trait a photographer should have, you never expect him to cite Sir Walter Raleigh as an inspiration.
For a guy like John Agnello, that makes all the sense in the world. “I was shooting a wedding once and the bride was stressed about the weather. I told her that if it rains, you’re going to come out of the house and I’m going to throw down my coat so you don’t get your shoes wet and dirty.” She came out and both her shoes — and John’s jacket — stayed dry.
“You do whatever you can for your client.”
With clients that include countless fashion models, celebrities, brides, and politicians, John’s perfected doing whatever he can for people who might not have patience with just any photographer.
This year he’s celebrating 40 years of making people happy from behind his camera.
It’s a ride that began without a camera at all. He began as an artist, oil-painting seascapes, landscapes, space scenes, not to mention painting 10-foot-tall murals of Marshall Tucker album covers on people’s living room walls.
A love of graphic arts and an artist’s eye for composition led him through SVA in Manhattan and a stint in advertising. But it wasn’t long until he bet on himself, rented a camera and plowed through the world of NY photography like a fish to water. When he went looking for work with the Fred Marcus Agency (the top photography studio in the city), he told them point-blank that he was going to go far above what you could ask for.
He wasn’t lying.
It takes a special kind of someone who might be mistakenly associated with the dreaded paparazzi to charm Julia Roberts. But that’s exactly what John did, doing a shoot for the star of My Best Friend’s Wedding after he had been the photographer for her best friend’s wedding.
After deciding the two-a-day Manhattan wedding schedule was too much of a grind, John launched his own studio in New Jersey, becoming a local legend along the way.
It wasn’t long before cable network Bravo came calling to do an interview with John. They came to pitch him an idea — a documentary about him that was to be called “Show Me the Love”, a ready catchphrase from his life as a wedding photographer. He spent the next 30 straight days filming John’s life 24/7. Although the project never aired, he doesn’t regret going through the Big Brother-like experience. “It was crazy, man!”
He’s won Photographic Excellence awards from Kodak, had features hung in EPCOT, shot hundreds of major magazine covers (including this one), worked with business leaders such as self-help legend Tony Robbins, Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran (who’s “only” worth about $190 million these days), and Mercy Ships CEO Gary Brown, along with politicians like Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill.
Seeing a Member of Congress beam as John says “Yeah, baby, work it!” to her is all that you need to know about the special rapport he creates with people, and it’s genuine. His clients marvel at his way of making them comfortable. And who looks good in a photo when they’re tense?
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people call him ‘The Legend’, says Steve Kurt, John’s right hand with the studio, who works closely with him on all of his shoots. (John calls Steve “fantastic” and has been soaking everything up that he can as his photo career builds with John. Keep Wayne Lifestyle in mind for your own 40-year spotlight, Steve!)
“His reputation is incredible. Nearly all of his previous wedding customers use that word - legend. John gives his all and goes out of his way to make people's experiences the best they can be. He just gets right in there with his clients, takes it to a personal level, asking their life stories, how they are. It's not just work, it’s relationship building. So many customers become good friends with him, he has that kind of draw.
How John uses his unique eye and creative mind to create linear composition, shadowing, lighting, and countless other photo techniques sets him apart, technically. His visual creativity is off the charts — it’s the reason he doesn’t just “capture a moment”, he makes it timeless.
But it’s one thing to be a “gifted by the Hand of God”-level photographer. It’s another to be a legend.
Happy 40 years, John.
John’s studio is at 573 Valley Road in Wayne. You can reach him at japhoto1@aol.com or (973) 692-1588, or online at johnagnellophoto.com.
My advice for aspiring photographers: keep the camera on you all the time and shoot as much as you can. And when you feel like giving up - don't. That's usually when the blessing comes around, when you feel like giving up is the time where it's gonna really kick in. That's your test. Trust your passion.
