John Agnello Sees the World Through the Lens of a Camera

John Agnello sees things a little differently than other people.

The Wayne-based photographer is in the business of capturing moments and emotions, not just documenting events. He mostly photographs weddings. 

“I want to capture someone’s soul and spirit, but without saying anything,” Agnello said. “The rest happens in the viewer’s mind.”

To accomplish this, Agnello will say to a groom: “hug your wife like it’s the last time you’ll ever hug her” or he’ll say to a bride: “whisper something in his ear.”

“That’s how you get real emotion,” Agnello said. “Photography is all about capturing heart and soul and emotion.”

Agnello uses a lot of leading, horizontal lines in his work, which guide and direct a viewer’s eyes through a photograph. He works a lot with light and shadow, playing off their variations in each setting. He uses a penlight to shine direct light onto someone, but leaves the background dark. This emphasizes the people being photographed and the expressions on their faces.

People are not the only subject Agnello uses to convey emotions. He uses buildings too. For one set of photographs hanging up in Greenberry’s, he photographed some buildings and landscapes, but took the filter that blocks ultraviolet light out of his camera.

“The pictures have a completely different feel to them than if the filter was left in the camera. Buildings, they can become these very relatable characters,” Agnello said. “There’s all kinds of light and shadows that you can see with buildings.  That’s a way of getting and seeing and attaching emotions to them.”

Photographers must be able to adapt and change styles, but not necessarily their message, on a regular basis.

“If everyone’s doing one thing and you do something else, you’ll stand out,” Agnello said. “Anybody can take a picture, but it’s making yourself stand out. It’s making the photograph you take and having the viewer say: ‘wow, that’s what he wanted to say.’”

Agnello started using a digital camera in 2001 when most photographers were still using film.

“I was shooting a wedding and used a film camera and a digital camera and everyone said I was crazy,” Agnello said. “If everyone is doing one thing, I’ll do the exact opposite.”

Agnello works a lot in Photoshop. He’s created photo filters that selectively enhance certain features. One filter sharpens a person's hair, but softens his or her skin tone.

“You’ve got to think outside the box in this businesses,” Agnello said. “People want to see something new. I’m a storyteller. That’s my job: to tell the story of the people I’m photographing.”