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A SNAPSHOT OF TECHNOLOGY AND ART
OCVTS Photography Course Lures Budding Shutter Bugs
By Keith Hagarty
 | | --Photo By Keith Hagarty Photographer Alex Rivera, 17, and model Urte Marcinonyte, 18, both of Brick, discuss their personal experiences in the field of photography. |
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A picture tells a thousand words.
As an instructor in the graphic design technology program at the Ocean County Vocational Technical School in Brick for the last 11 years, Howard Polenberg's 25 years of experience as a professional photographer has taught him this: teaching photography is all about balancing the technical aspects of the craft while honing the personal journey and embracing the imaginative journey.
"That's goal number one: to teach you how to use the equipment properly," said Polenberg. "But the thing I challenge you on is you've got to be creative, because being a hiring manager when I was in the industry, I could look at 100 portfolios and the one that has that spark is the one that I'm going to hire. So you've got to develop that creative sense."
When presenting a project to his students, Polenberg said it's important not to show them what he wants, but rather leave it open-ended enough to allow their imaginations to explore throughout the creative process.
 | | --Photo By Lauren Puglisi Budding photographers see what it's like on the other side of the camera as they competed in the regional competition of the National SkillsUSA organization. |
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"I don't show them examples because I'm afraid they'll say, 'oh, that's what he wants,'" said Polenberg. "I want them to think about things for themselves … I want them to see different things, look at things from different heights and see the other approaches."
An admitted traditionalist, Polenberg, who also teaches commercial photography and digital imaging, said perhaps the biggest adjustment in the field of photography in the past decade has come from the rise of digital medium.
"It's all digital today, although I still refuse to let go of the film end of it. I think it's so important," said Polenberg. "I still love shooting film, and going into the darkroom."
When Polenberg asked his 40 students how many of them owned a 35-millimeter film camera, only two raised their hands.
"But when I asked the same question about digital, everyone has a digital camera," he said. "We just started the film section last week, and I have enough cameras to go around and lend out, but I always ask the students if they have their own camera. If they do, then I would prefer they use that because after 20 weeks of photography and if they're going out there with their own camera, then why mess with learning one of my cameras all over again?"
While the technology age never stops evolving, Polenberg is glad to see a certain level of respect and natural curiosity still existing for the classic medium of photography.
"That's where it's going," he said of digital photography, "but they all want film, and they all want to do film and they all want to learn film. The interest is still there."
When asked why he thinks the lure of film is still so strong amongst budding photographers, Polenberg offered a few possibilities.
"I think it still illustrates the magic of film," he said. "Even when I go into the dark room and show them how to do it and print it, and then it's like, here look at this, we took this exposure negative to a piece of paper, just this little piece of white paper, now there's an image on there … it's like watch this, now watch this, look at that magic. Isn't that great?"
The traditional penetrating red glow of a darkroom still has a strong allure with the younger generation, according to Polenberg.
"Things like that, it just spreads like wild fire," he said, "because they talk with their friends and it's like, 'we just did this really cool thing in a darkroom.'"
With a focus on not only photography, but also electronic art and printing, Polenberg's class is typically a hot ticket amongst students, with an annual waiting list.
"To be a better photographer, you have to know print, you need to know art and you need to know the computer because for the most part, unless you're doing fine art photography, photography has to have an application," he said. "So if you know a little something about that, it makes you better."
Polenberg developed the itinerary for the photography and graphic design element of the regional competition of the National SkillsUSA organization recently held at the Brick OCVTS.
Some of the assignment goals for the photography portion of the competition include industrial photography, and the theme of "unseen or the hidden world of machines."
"I didn't explain it to them," he noted. "It was just like, 'go out and do it, and think of what the words are telling you.'"
The photography competition came down to three judges, two of whom were once students of Polenberg at the Brick facility and are now professionals in the field. The other judge was an electronic arts teacher who also works at the facility.
This year's competition allowed for the placement of two high school students and two post-secondary students to participate, whereas in past years only two students from each facility were allowed to compete.
The interest in this year's competition was high, said Polenberg.
"This is the first year in a long time that I've had a lot of students interested in doing it," he said.
Polenberg was impressed with the enthusiastic outpouring of support demonstrated by his current and former students, several of whom helped out at the daylong competition by taking photographs of the festivities and participants.
"It's great," said Polenberg. "It's one thing to see them practice and train, but when they volunteer, it's like wow, the more the merrier."
One of the volunteer photographers was Alex Rivera, 17, of Brick Memorial High School (BMHS). When taking snapshots of people, there's so much more depth that goes into it than simply pushing a button, said Rivera.
"I believe you have to have people skills," said Rivera. "If you can't approach someone and be open about it, it just won't work. You don't want to be in their faces. I don't want to tell someone to smile. I'd rather catch them when they're already smiling and I'd rather take that shot. It's just more natural."
Rivera even supplied the competition with a professional model for a portion of the photography competition, his friend and fellow BMS student, 18-year-old Urte Marcinonyte.
"Because this is a contest, you're always going to have nervous people all the time," Rivera said when describing his assignment for the day. "You want to walk around and you want that emotion to come through as they're waiting on the results, or as they present something, or whatever it may be, you want to capture that emotion on their face. It's not so much what they're doing, as much as it is their reaction to it."
What Rivera has learned from the OCVTS course has been invaluable.
"I know what I'm capable of now," he said. "I feel confident enough when approaching people. I like networking and getting things done."
Already working as a freelance photographer, Rivera is excited about the possibilities that lie ahead.
"I'd love to grow up and do this as a profession, and I'm glad I've had the opportunity to find out what it takes," he said.
Watching students, like Rivera, develop and hone their own innate abilities, talents and see their confidence soar as a result, is the most rewarding aspect of Polenberg's role as instructor.
"It's that feeling of pride. They got it, they're doing it and if they want to pursue it seriously, I know they have a really good chance of being successful," he said, "and that's the main focus of vocational schools is to learn a trade or a skill, and be able to make a living for themselves."
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