Who’s the man behind the lens? Oftentimes we see an amazing photo and hit the like button and move on. Maybe we screenshot it and repost it, then give it no further thought. Who took it, and why? It’s a privilege to introduce you to one of those amazing photographers behind the lens here in Lewis County.
Chances are you’ve scrolled through his photography work or seen it here in The Chronicle. If you’re a Napavine sports parent, there’s no doubt you’ve screenshot a picture of your very own superstar, sent it to your out-of-town family, then updated your screen saver photo with it.
Not wanting to write about this man’s photography, it speaks for itself. Instead, I will share a few words about the character of the man behind the lens.
John Mark Anders is a proud Napavine dad who took his camera to go watch his amazing daughter Jaynee cheer at a home football game a few years ago. Taking equestrian photos of Jaynee and his spectacular wife Meghan for years, he decided to give sports photography a try.
In our hometown, we’d say he’s one of the best photographers and now media mentors around. But what makes John so special isn’t his photography work. Why he will use a week of vacation time from his longtime employer Cascade Hardwoods and travel across the state to capture the photos is the real story.
John lost his adult son, Steven, a few years ago and realized he didn’t have many photos of his own son growing up. Being such a compassionate human, he spends hundreds of hours taking pictures, editing and sharing them for free, never charging a penny for any sports picture he produces.
Here in Napavine, he does it equally as possible for boys, girls, middle school, high school, C squad, junior varsity and varsity. In addition, John makes it a point to capture all sports, even the not so popular ones. Think about that for a minute: a man who doesn’t have a kid on the team, who goes to Cascade Hardwoods at 4 a.m. and works all day, then drives to the Tuesday night out of town rival basketball game in time to get some pictures of the junior varsity athletes. Or on Saturday will spend 12 hours in the sweaty, stinky gym making sure he captures pictures of every single boy and girl wrestler. Soccer, football, basketball, wrestling, track, baseball, softball, cheerleaders and the band — he gets photographs of all of them. It’s hard to think of another person who cares so much about other parents having something he will never be able to recreate for himself willing to give so much of his time and resources so others can have that memorable photo.
Most of us in Napavine never had the opportunity to meet Steven, and we all hope to never bury our own child. But if you get the opportunity to hear or read or talk or write about Steven, you can feel the love he has for Steven and the pain he still struggles with.
People deal with grief differently. There’s no right or wrong way. John’s way has brought us closer, gives us equal enjoyment and provides these families with one of the best shareable memories they could ask for.
Most of our small town community knows John’s story, and we quietly carry some of his pain. So, next time you see the man John Mark Anders behind the lens, take your own picture of the man, because you may never see a real life superhero again.
Damian Hernandez
Napavine
