Unexpected moments captured in Jan Regan’s photographs
She’s photographed central New York townspeople as well as celebrities like Bruce Springsteen; dogs and camels; and tiny houses and historical mansions. Jan Regan ’78 has traveled the world taking pictures, but she’s often found wonderment right here in Madison County.
In college, Regan didn’t have a car and stayed close to campus. So when she began photographing for Madison County Tourism in 2013, “the revelations of tourist destinations that exist [here] came as a complete surprise to me,” she says. For example, the giraffe at The Wild Animal Park in Chittenango: “Who knew?” she says.
Regan chose to attend Colgate upon the advice of a National Geographic editor. She’d been an avid photographer since childhood, carrying around an Instamatic Kodak 104 and turning her bathroom into a makeshift darkroom by stuffing towels under the door to block light. She grew up in Camillus, N.Y., and knew of Colgate’s excellent reputation. The liberal arts were a draw, but Regan wondered if she should instead enroll in a photography program. A fan of National Geographic, she penned a letter asking the editor for advice. “He wrote me the most heartfelt letter about the value of the liberal arts,” she remembers. “He basically said, you can always learn the technical [skills], but what you [become] as a photographer will be enhanced by what you read, what you experience, the places you see, the things you’re thinking — that will make a difference in what you do.”
Colgate didn’t offer many photography classes at the time, so Regan gained experience through the Maroon, the Salmagundi, and covering visiting musicians, including Springsteen, The Grateful Dead, and Fleetwood Mac.
After graduation, Regan was a writer/photographer for higher education institutions before deciding to focus solely on photography and open her own studio in Geneva, N.Y., where she still lives. She’s had a variety of commissions, including more music photography. She serves as the photographer for Geneva’s Smith Opera House and has photographed the Syracuse Symphony as well as the Philadelphia Orchestra, with whom she spent several years traveling Europe and Asia.
That gig ended with the beginning of the pandemic. During those months of isolation, Regan started “Porch Portraits,” an Instagram series documenting the pandemic through the people in her town, which she turned into an award-winning book. “It was a wonderful way to connect to people across my community during that strange time,” she says.
She’s also connected with the central New York community in her commission for the tourism bureau. Through the work, she finds delight in the unexpected. “So many trails! Waterfalls, the Erie Canal, Farm Days, unusual shopping…,” she says. “Needless to say, Madison County has been a repeatedly interesting client for me.”