Jacqueline Agentis

When award-winning international photographer Agentis was a child, she often wondered why it took her mother Jacqueline so long to take pictures. Her mother had always been a camera enthusiast, even selling them in a shop in Germany years before. It was how she met Agentis’ father, who was an American GI. Years later, when Agentis was gifted her first camera, a Canon AE-1, she finally understood: all those extra seconds her mother spent while her and her siblings fidgeted and moaned made all the difference between a nice, simple snapshot and the kind of photograph still talked about to this day. When she was introduced to the exquisite light and detail of Ansel Adams’ work, she realised she could achieve with photography what she was trying to do with drawing.

Agentis attended Kutztown University where she obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography. During her studies, she fell in love with the street photography of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, and Dorothea Lange, finding inspiration in how they managed to capture the extraordinary in the ordinary. Intrigued by the the history of her subjects, a chair in a cafe or a quiet street, Agentis is compelled to convey that sense of time using color, abstract, architectural elements and texture. She captures not only what is happening with her subjects, but also the character and personality of the space around them – who and what came before. Agentis has been shooting for over 30 years. Her work has appeared in local, national and international publications, including the New York Times, and has shown in several solo and group exhibitions. She is also the recipient of numerous photography awards. Agentis works from her studio in Pennsylvania where she has resided since 1972.

www.jcagentisphotography.com