LONGVIEW — Ask Bill Wagner how he became a photojournalist, and he’ll say, “I wasn’t one of the world’s stellar naval officers.”
The self-effacing comment perfectly captures the qualities that endeared Wagner to coworkers, readers and photo subjects during a 32-year career with The Daily News. Those who worked with him say Wagner had a natural ability to connect with people and make them feel at ease.
Wagner retired from TDN on Thursday, but he will be remembered for his careful documentation of the successes, challenges and tragedies in our community.
“Bill is remarkably sensitive and careful about his work,” said former TDN feature writer Cathy Zimmerman, who worked with Wagner for about 27 years. “He really wants to relate to the people he’s taking photos of and really wants to be collaborative with the reporter. … He doesn’t do things off the cuff. He’s a careful reporter (and photographer).”
Wagner didn’t “stumble” into photography until he was an adult. His father’s job with Shell Oil Co. meant Wagner grew up in Michigan, Ohio, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York before attending Colgate University in upstate New York in 1963. He took his first photography class while in college.
After graduating, Wagner joined the Navy in 1967 and he served until 1970. (“I say I was in during Vietnam. I was not in Vietnam. There’s a very real distinction to that.”)
During his service, Wagner was assigned to his ship’s cruise book, which is similar to a yearbook, and learned that he enjoyed photography.
When he returned home, he moved in with his parents in Connecticut. After a few months, his dad suggested getting a job at a bank or selling life insurance.
“There’s nothing wrong with working in a bank or selling life insurance. They’re very important jobs, but it wasn’t what struck me as what I wanted to do. I figured, ‘OK, if I’m going to do this, at least I’m going to start with something that looks interesting to me,’ ” Wagner said.
He enrolled in a photography masters degree program at the University of Oregon in 1971. That summer, Wagner moved to Astoria to photograph Columbia River gillnet fishermen as part of his studies. He worked in canneries and unloaded fishing boats while working on his degree.
During the fishing seasons, Wagner lived on float houses in the Columbia River with the fishermen, alternating between being a photographer and boatpuller. The experience led to a lifelong love of the river.
“That was a really unique lifestyle,” he said. “Unfortunately now I probably have historic photos (because of) the way the industry has gone down, and there are fewer fishermen and fewer opportunities for people to fish.”
Wagner met his future wife, Adele, in 1974. They married two years later. They have three children: Eric Wagner, Kanoe Wagner and Elise McCurties. And they have one granddaughter.
In 1978, Wagner took a part-time job in the darkroom at The Daily Astorian, but the position quickly morphed into a full-time photographer position.
Wagner applied to The Daily News eight years later because he wanted to work at a larger newspaper with more photographers and more opportunities to shoot color photos. He started the last week in 1986 and stayed until this week.
Bob Gaston, who was the TDN managing editor at the time, said he hired Wagner for his accomplished work in the Daily Astorian and friendly personality.
“We know that he’s noted for his scenic photos, which are beautiful … but he’s so much more as a photographer. He comes on so nicely with people. He’s very friendly and empathetic, and that allowed him to get some really nice portraits of people for a story,” Gaston said.
During his time at TDN, Wagner has captured a diverse array of subjects: a Lower Columbia College baseball player leaping backwards for a game-winning catch, waves crashing against Cape Disappointment, a Clatskanie resident rescuing her dog from floods, teams paddling outlandish cardboard boats during the Go4th Festival regatta.
Some of his favorite photos are of life on the Columbia River, including an award-winning six-part series about the river and its troubles in 1991.
“I love the Columbia River. I love its beauty and its majesty, its many moods and the people who work on it and play around it. That’s always been one of my favorite parts of being here,” he said.
Wagner said he prefers photographing people and nature to capture the “beauty and joy and humor in daily life.”
City editor Andre Stepankowsky, who has been with TDN 40 years, praised Wagner for his artistry. “Bill always paid attention to detail, to make sure his work was as good as it could be. That’s the practice of an artist.”
He said he especially enjoyed Wagner’s nature photography. “Some of Bill’s best work was photographing nature. He had a great talent for capturing both the detail and the grandeur of nature.”
However, tragedies and emergencies are also part of a photojournalist’s job. Wagner recalled being assigned to take photos of a 2011 train crash with a shuttle vehicle in Longview in which three people died. In difficult situations, he said, it’s important to remember the humanity of photo subjects.
“They’re real people, with real stories and they have real feelings,” he said. “It’s important to treat people that way so that your photographs show that (and) so that the moments that you pick to tell a story about a person are honest moments that represent that person or that situation.”
Wagner knew how to photograph sensitive situations while being unobtrusive, said Roger Werth, who was Wagner’s photo editor for about 30 years.
“He has a genuine quality about getting people to relax and be themselves, and that’s what you want as photographer — to get a natural photo that’s not contrived,” Werth said.
Photojournalism has changed significantly since Wagner’s early days in the 1980s. Instead of developing photos in a darkroom, Wagner now edits photos on the computer. And now there are fewer photographers, and less time or space to cover events, he said. During his tenure, TDN went from three to one photographer. (TDN recently hired University of Arizona graduate Courtney Talak to replace Wagner.)
But Wagner doesn’t think journalism is dying.
“I think there will always be a need to tell people’s stories,” he said. “There are basic things that are important, like telling the truth and treating your subjects with an honesty and a respect. And taking the time to get to know the person and not rushing something to beat other people (to a story).”
As a new retiree, Wagner said he wants to spend time fixing up his home, taking morning drives over the Astoria bridge with his wife and spending time with his family.
He never thought about leaving a legacy, he said, but he hopes people feel he was truthful, fair and hardworking.
“I’m really grateful to all the people who opened up their lives to us. If people were not willing to open their lives and let us in to tell their stories, the stories would suffer (and) the readers’ understanding would suffer. It’s so much better when someone allows you to tell the story through their life. It has a reality and a humanity. And I’m really grateful I’ve had the opportunity.”
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