John Pezzenti Jr. Rest in Peace

“I learned that eagles can recognize a face for over 20 years, and they’re territorial, they’ll return to a tree where they nested the year before. So I’d go back, knowing that the eagle is going to nest there, and it recognizes me and knows I didn’t do anything bad the year before, so it allows me, each year, to get a little closer.” John Pezzenti, Jr.

I met John Pezzenti Jr. at the Alaska State Fair in 1997, just after the release of his book, John Pezzenti's Alaska. I was painting faces with Marky D' Clown and his troupe of face painters and John wanted a Bear paw as I recall. Marky, as usual, sent the "special request" to me and I had the opportunity to closely (3 to 4 inches) engage John in conversation. The first thing I noted about John was his size, he seemed to be a much larger man than he actually was, something in his aura enlarged him. The next thing I noted was the Bear Claw hanging from a hide strap around his neck. We discussed photography and I told him about my work in the Army as a POA photog. By the time he looked in the mirror and paid $20.00 for a $10.00 face painting we had agreed that I would create a website for his book.

Over the next few Months we exchanged phone calls, and "John Pezzenti's Alaska" came into being as one of my very first clients. I lost touch with John after that, the site remained up and after billing notices went unanswered for going on two years I assumed John was either no longer interested in keeping the site or had moved on to other pursuits, like following a Grizzly through the brush for days to get just the right shot, or sitting on a subzero mountainside waiting for the Moose to cross in front of the Glacier. John was a man that was comfortable being alone with himself, he perhaps had demons like most of us do, but he could deal with them one on one and allow his higher self to come out, and capture images that immediately impressed you with the quality, the eye of an artist capturing a moment that few would ever see if he had not captured it, and shared it with us.

pezzenti.com