David JonDeJonge
David J. DeJonge pauses at the National World War II Memorial at night beneath illuminated state pillars

Photographer · Entrepreneur · Civic builder

A life spent getting close enough to see clearly.

David J. DeJonge has spent four decades making portraits, building visual enterprises, preserving first-hand history, and carrying promises into public life.

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National World War II Memorial · Washington, D.C. · November 8, 2017 · Photograph by Brad Gillette

The through-line

A method carried across four decades.

When David asked 109-year-old Frank Buckles for the most important lesson in life, Buckles answered with the last advice he would give him: “Keep your word.” David turned those three words into a method—look closely, stay with the work, and build what the promise requires.

When the answer was no, he kept working until the record changed.

Frank Buckles in his United States Army uniform in 1917 Photography · 2008Pentagon collection9 last-survivor portraitsEnter the photographic record → Frank Buckles seated before the District of Columbia War Memorial in Washington, D.C. Public work · 2008–2014National WWI Memorial3 laws passed · 0 paid lobbyists hiredRead the citizen campaign record → Legacy Icons facility surrounded by farmland near Zeeland, Michigan Enterprise · Founder-built80K+ customersA substantial visual enterpriseSee how it was built → David DeJonge speaking closely with Frank Buckles at Gap View Farm in 2007 The through-line · Frank Buckles“Keep your word.”Buckles’s last advice to David at age 109Read the story behind the promise →
A mother holding two children while listening to a sermon at Roseland Christian Ministry Center in Chicago, 1989 01PhotographyPortraits, witnesses, American passage, and sacred places.Roseland Christian Ministry Center · Chicago · 1989Enter the work → David DeJonge in his portrait studio at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel 02EnterpriseFrom a basement studio to two founder-led visual businesses.Amway Grand Plaza Hotel · Grand Rapids, Michigan · Photograph by Brad GilletteSee how it was built → Frank W. Buckles at the District of Columbia War Memorial in 2008 03Public WorkVeterans, public health, student safety, civic learning, and national memory.Washington, D.C. · March 6, 2008Choose the record →
1988DeJonge Studio established 90 sec.Used by Gingrich’s organization 9 portraitsEntered the Pentagon collection 4 CongressesA sustained World War I campaign 80K+Founder-reported Legacy Icons customers

Forty years of seeing

The frame changes. The attention does not.

Public figures and private grief. Ceremony and the open road. Every photograph begins by asking what deserves to be remembered.

Panoramic black-and-white portrait of Henry Kissinger Portraits of public lifeHenry Kissinger · 2006 Frank Buckles's daughter Susannah looking from a limousine across Arlington National Cemetery Private grief, public ceremonyArlington National Cemetery · 2011 Members of the Blackfeet Nation at the United States Capitol Blackfeet Nation at the CapitolWashington, D.C. · 2011 Air Force One on the Grand Rapids tarmac beyond a yellow line Yellow LineGrand Rapids · 2007 Desert Lodge neon glowing at night along Route 66 American passageDesert Lodge · Route 66 · 2006 An older woman seated beneath a storefront sign reading Cosmetics Woman beneath a storefront signMonroe Mall · Grand Rapids · circa 1988
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Build what the work requires

The entrepreneur and the photographer are the same person.

DeJonge Studio turned trusted access and exacting portrait craft into a working institution. Legacy Icons carried the same discipline—color, material, interpretation, relationship—into sacred art.

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  1. 01
    Master the craft

    Large-format portraiture, portable lighting, and attention to the finished physical print.

  2. 02
    Earn the trust

    A ninety-second sitting with Newt Gingrich led to organizational use and a later Washington commission.

  3. 03
    Build the system

    Studios, production methods, teams, partnerships, and institutions shaped around the work.

Susannah, Frank Buckles's daughter, looking across graves at Arlington National Cemetery

One frame · One story

The procession passed a field of names.

On March 15, 2011, Frank Buckles’s daughter, Susannah, looked from the funeral limousine across Arlington National Cemetery. The public ceremony is outside the glass; the private farewell is reflected within it.

Enter the Public Memory essay
Frank W. Buckles seated before the District of Columbia War Memorial
Frank W. Buckles at the D.C. War Memorial, Washington, D.C., March 6, 2008. Photograph by David J. DeJonge.

The promise

A portrait assignment became a public obligation.

Documenting America’s final World War I veterans led David into a sustained citizen campaign with Buckles, students, veterans, advocates, and members of Congress. The campaign did not turn on a single bill; it persisted across four Congresses.

2011D.C. War Memorial restored 3Laws passed 2021National memorial opened
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Independent recognition

Reported, recorded, and heard.

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All Things Considered World War I & Ford The final veterans Nightly News Seven records · two bylined The 90-second portrait

Biography

From Michigan cornfields to studios, state rooms, monasteries, and the Capitol.

David began making portraits in his parents’ basement and learned to build his own path—first through photography, then film, civic work, and Christian cultural preservation.

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David DeJonge in the DeJonge Studio at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel

The next conversation

Images carry memory. Enterprise gives it reach.

Photography, archive collaboration, speaking, press, cultural work, and institutional partnerships.

Contact David

Amway Grand Plaza Hotel · Grand Rapids, Michigan · Photograph by Brad Gillette