Bill Jagde Photography

Welcome to Life in Monroe, NY. I recently wrote a blog for a client about how children naturally embrace meditation. How they can lay still on the grass with ease, finding images in the clouds or get this close to a butterfly and examine the pollen on his feet and the dust on his wings.

Much to my envy, at 40+ years old, Bill Jagde is still like that kid lost in the glass at the candy store, only Bill’s glass is a camera lens. About a million years ago, Bill went on a couple of vacations and brought along a camera. The kind of camera that sits in everyone’s desk drawer – nothing special, just a camera. But something very special happened for Bill. To be fair, part of it was about the Arizona desert. And while the words, “Arizona Desert,” might mean nothing but tumbleweeds and … well, nothing, to us, to Bill Jagde it is simply foreplay.

After years of friendship, we finally cleared our calendar and went to one of his exhibits when his photos were being featured in Beacon a couple of summers ago. Now as most of you know by now, I am far from visual. I’m a word girl. So the fact that my husband had to drag me OUT of Bill’s show says volumes. We left with a $60 print, all we could afford at that time, and we proudly displayed it in the only place we were allowed by the police – our daughter’s room. (She’s the police, if you haven’t guessed.) Nowhere would do for that picture of the “Mittens” than her room. So at the next show, we made sure to buy two photos. One less expensive print to add to our child’s growing collection of Bill’s work, and one for our living room wall.

Okay, I’ll admit it, we bought the one on our living room wall for my boss. My generous, loving boss who was so good to us – but then we simply couldn’t part with it. We bought him a bottle of wine, and we sat and enjoyed our good thinking over a cup of coffee, as lost in that photo as any kid in a candy store.

Bill’s story is pretty cool, he graduated from that beat up camera to a borrowed one – just to be sure he loved it at much as he thought he did – and then he started investing in his gift (for the technically aware among you, Bill primarily uses a Nikon Digital SLR camera).

Most recently, Bill and his wife went on a second honeymoon to Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii, which he says slightly resembles Mars – craters and steam everywhere. It is a dichotomy, though – tropical jungles overflowing with plants and flowers, set against a backdrop of waterfalls and sunsets live next door to rivers of molten lava cut through miles of black rock and explosions of brilliance and hot gas. Amazingly, Bill captures it all with a box and a lens.

How wonderful the universe is, that it still unveils its gifts to us, even when we’re not twenty-one any more. And Bill’s gift has definitely been unveiled. He tours the country visiting his passion – our National Parks – and he shoots them with the eyes of a lover. He brings to life images that the rest of us might actually miss in person. He captures a moment and does what great photographers do, he gives it immortality.

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How to Get Bills Work

We happily discovered that owning a piece of Bill’s art, is very realistic – with simple prints for less than $100 and beautifully framed works from $100 - $600. For not much more, you can talk to Bill about custom sizing and framing any of his works specifically to your own room or collection. If you’re in the Hudson Valley, you can visit Bill’s work on display at the Art House Gallery, 1397 Kings Hwy, Sugar Loaf – or you can view his online collection at http://www.billjagdephotography.com/.

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Declining Attendance at our National Parks

For Bill Jagde, our nation’s national parks are well deserving of the immortality he gives them through his work. They have become something that should never have happened, they’ve become hidden treasures. Our National Park Service estimates that we have experienced an astonishing 90% drop in attendance since 1987 -- 90% less of us will see Yellowstone, The Grand Canyon, Big Bend, Denali, and on and on. We are fortunate in the Hudson Valley to be within an hour of many of New York State’s National Parks and attractions (from Governor’s Island in NYC to Saratoga National Historical Park near Albany).

(Visit http://usparks.about.com/blpkny.htm for a more complete list.) The message in all of Bill’s photographs is clear, these are hidden treasures well worth the effort. And while you may not be able to throw the kids in the station wagon and trek to the Grand Canyon tomorrow, you should definitely make an afternoon to visit and learn about Ellis Island. And whether you go anywhere or not having a piece of Bill’s vision hung on your wall is honestly an every-day oasis – the reminder that somewhere, right now, there is this immensely beautiful place that doesn’t give a crap about my laundry, my work, or my worries. It (and maybe even we) are simply more than that.

- Mary Agnes Antonopoulos (Mary Vetell)

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