As an army photographer during World War II, Daniel Novak Jr. documented harrowing images of war: soldiers in combat, crashed planes, wounded men undergoing surgeries on makeshift operating tables.
After the fighting was over, Novak stayed behind the camera, making a living photographing the fruits of peace: children at their first communions, brides on their wedding days, prosperous business executives.
Novak, a longtime Twin Cities portrait photographer from Golden Valley, died Aug. 6 at the age of 96.
Born in northeast Minneapolis, Novak became interested in photography early in life, taking wedding pictures with a Speed Graphic camera while attending Edison High School in Minneapolis.
After World War II broke out, he volunteered for the army in 1942 and became a cameraman for the 164th Signal Photographic Company assigned to the China-Burma-India theater in the fight against Japanese forces.
He became a motion picture cameraman, operating a Bell & Howell Eyemo 35mm camera, filming action that would be used in newsreel footage, training films and military intelligence.
In Burma, Novak documented the special operations jungle warfare unit known as Merrill's Marauders. He took pictures of airborne troops parachuting or in gliders, of soldiers on elephants, of the wartime construction of the torturous Ledo Road crossing the mountains between India and China, known as the "man a mile" road because more than 1,100 Americans died building the 1,079-mile road.
"My dad always told the story that you had to hang onto the tail of the mules as they were pulling you up the mountains," said Novak's son, Scott Novak.
Novak once described filming an outdoor surgery in the rain where nurses held umbrellas over the doctors and the wounded soldier.
"He never spoke about it when we were kids," Scott Novak said.
Scott Novak said his father received a Bronze Star during the war.
When he got back to the Twin Cities, he started the Novak Photo Studio on Broadway in Minneapolis in addition to owning the Gene Garrett Photography Studio on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis for many years.
He also served as president of the Minnesota Professional Photographers Association in 1958 and was a mentor to other photographers.
"He was very good at making everyone feel comfortable," said Scott of his dad's portrait photography. "With little kids, he would always stick a quarter on his forehead."
Novak retired in the 1990s, and his Nicollet Mall studio became part of Brit's Pub.
Even after he retired, he continued to be fascinated with photography during the digital and cellphone camera age.
"He owned a MacBook Pro and an iPhone and went to the Apple stores for the free lessons they give," Scott said. "He did this until he was about 93."
Novak's other great hobby was mowing his Golden Valley lawn with a John Deere garden tractor he bought used in 1983.
"The neighbors said if they saw him on his tractor, they knew it was a good day," Scott Novak said. "We always joked that we were going to bury him on top of that thing."
Novak is survived by his wife, Jeanne Novak, of Golden Valley; daughters Jill Franklin, of Rockford, Minn., and Jodie Raddatz, of Fort Myers, Fla.; son Scott Novak, of Golden Valley; and eight grandchildren.
A celebration of life will be held when COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
Richard Chin • 612-673-1775
