Jake Rajs, Formerly Of Westhampton Beach, Dies May 25

Jake Rajs, formerly of Westhampton Beach died of lung cancer at his sister’s home in New Jersey on May 25. He was 68.

Mr. Rajs was born in Poland in 1952, and after living in Israel for three years, his family immigrated to the United States in 1960.

After graduating from Irvington High School in 1970, Mr. Rajs studied studio art at Rutgers University.

A few years after graduating in 1974, Mr. Rajs’s dream of becoming a professional photographer took a decisive turn after a chance encounter on the observation deck of the Empire State Building, his family recalled. Chatting at 1,050 feet with a stranger about photography, Mr. Rajs mentioned that he aspired to work for the color photography pioneer Pete Turner. In an unlikely coincidence, the man Mr. Rajs talked with happened to be Pete Turner’s assistant, and he told Rajs that he was about to leave and that and his position would be open. Mr. Rajs jumped on the opportunity, his family said, and with his strong work ethic and natural eye for composition and beauty, the experience with Mr. Turner — and later the renowned photographer Jay Maisel — helped catapult him into a long and successful photography career.

Specializing in both commercial and fine art photography, Mr. Rajs is best known for his stunning photos of architectural marvels and inspiring landscapes, his family said. He published over 18 fine art photography books, including “Manhattan: An Island In Focus,” “New York: City of Islands,” “Coastal California: The Pacific Coast,” “America,” and “These United States,” which featured an introduction written by famed journalist Walter Cronkite.

Presidents, celebrities, and Pope John II all received his books. Mr. Rajs’s award-winning photography was featured in thousands of publications, including Time, Life, Newsweek, the New York Times, Esquire, Town and Country, Men’s Health, Geo, and National Geographic.

His fine art prints can be found in museums and private collections around the world. The largest collection of his work is on display in Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, with over 110 prints on display in different wings of the hospital.

In recognition of his skill, creativity, and artistry, Reader’s Digest magazine selected Mr. Rajs as the “Best Observer of America” in 2005. “Not since Ansel Adams turned his lens on the Snake River has a photographer so glorified the American Landscape,” they wrote. They singled out his book “These United States,” praising Mr. Rajs for capturing “all the splendor, heroism, and vastness of his adopted homeland.”

Mr. Rajs spent his life traveling the globe, capturing beautiful images and sharing them with the masses, his family said. He amassed an archive of more than a half-million images, including over 10,000 immortal shots of the Twin Towers, which took special resonance after 9/11.

In fact, the first photo Mr. Rajs ever sold to a magazine, in 1976, was of the Twin Towers, and the buildings always held a special place in his heart.

For the last several years of his life, he lived on the North Fork and in Westhampton Beach. He photographed the natural beauty and architecture of the East End, publishing two books, “Between Sand and Sky” and “Beyond The Dunes: A Portrait Of The Hamptons.”

Mr. Rajs is survived by his two daughters, Chloe Rajs and Olivia Rajs; his sister Frances Rajs Wagner and her husband Tim Wagner; and countless friends.