York Prep Photography Club

The unmasking of faces this past fall brought a gradual relaxing of anxiety about moving about the city, and as a result, Photo Club members wandered further afield and began to submit a wider variety of work than the 49 closeups of a beloved cat’s face, or yet another silent street in snow that symbolized the pandemic. Mind you, many of the shots of the city in snow during the pandemic taken by 10th-grader Owen Barbagallo, are stunning and rival the black and white photos of Eugene Atget and Alfred Stieglitz.  

Some students were so tired of being tethered at home that as early as April of 2020, they were allowed to go out, cell phones in hand, to cover the city on foot. A member of the track team, senior William Van Der Rohr, donned his running shoes and ran everywhere. “I frequently ran through the Financial District near the World Trade Center, or in Tribeca,” he says. William was intent on capturing “that unique moment” that has come to be his trademark as a photographer in the four years that he has been a member of the Photo Club. 

William joined the club as a freshman. At that time, he recently admitted that, “I didn’t understand how to take a great photo. With lots of patience and practice, I have seen myself develop a critical eye for detail, contrast and space. All of the elements that others admire in my photography today were taught to me by Ms. Tabourin in the Photo Club.” William’s specialty is architectural photography and he already has an impressive resumé of photos that real estate companies and magazines have published.

Owen Barbagallo also covered the city on foot during the pandemic. He says, “As Covid hit, I really came into my own as a photographer since I was allowed out more and took enough photos to train my eye. It has taken me thousands of photos to really feel confident about the work I produce.” As evinced in his work on display at the Spring Evening of the Arts Show, Owen is quickly developing into a quintessential New York photographer. He is agile and takes photos before his subjects are aware of his presence. 

One of the club’s most unique photographers, junior Smith Pingree, has been known to crouch down on the ground to get the precise angle he wants of his subject. Sometimes he leaps over fences in Central Park, a satisfied smile on his face at having just captured the photo he envisioned. Only last week he was seen hanging from a lamp post near school to take a photo of the sign. Smith tends to wander away from the group on photo outings but he always brings back an incredible shot that he had the vision to go after. Smith’s evolution in the club has been incredible. “I am much better now at seeing images all around me that I want to capture, from a cat under the sheets with the sun’s beams on his face to a pigeon’s eye beading directly into the camera’s beady-eyed lens.” 

William, Owen, and Smith all concurred that, ”What we like most about the photography club is the community we have built together around our love for taking photos. We even got together over Spring Break to see who could take the most unusual shots in Central Park!” They agreed that they learn from each member of the club and that the weekly sessions provide a warm and inviting environment in which to take real chances and have their photos workshopped to see how they can improve their skills. According to Smith, “In the three years that I have been in Photo Club, each year I have been a part of a fantastically encouraging group of students. I really appreciate the ability to acknowledge each other’s work and to learn from our collective mistakes. This has been super motivating for me. I have grown on my own, but I have only been able to do so because of the push and encouragement that I was given by the club.” Smith further acknowledges that, “I enjoy critiquing each other’s work to see what we can do differently the next time. This improves all of us as artists. Knowing that each one of us is not perfect, but that we can strive to become the best photographer possible is an amazing feeling.”

Interestingly, Covid took its toll on the Photo Club: in the year preceding the pandemic, there were 68 members, but only 12 members participated actively this past year. Former members admitted they had missed their friends so much that they didn’t want to give up a second of lunchtime. 

As always, this year’s group was tightly knit. In any given year, members range in age from 11 to 18. William has “really enjoyed mentoring the younger kids in the photography club. I am inspired by seeing the photography of other members in the club. I’ve learned through helping the young members that receiving feedback is crucial in developing one’s own distinctive photography,” he says.  

Since a lot of the legwork is done outside of club hours, the students acknowledge a sense of pride in being able to go out to shoot photos on their own and then to come together to review not only their weekly photos, but those of the “greats” of photography. While we learn from the masters, Smith is quick and right to point out that, “Even when we are looking at the greats, we acknowledge that art is subjective and therefore is imperfect in its perfections.” And as Owen so aptly puts it, “Photography takes a lot of practice, but in the end, it is very much worth it.”

When William heads off to the University of Denver in the fall, he plans to study real estate. “I may take pictures of model homes when I intern at a real estate brokerage.” When asked whether it was difficult to transition from taking primarily architecture photos to accepting Ms. Tabourin’s challenge to take NYC photos, William responded, “Surprisingly, no! I feel many of the skills I learned about taking a great architecture photo can be applied to portraiture and nature shots. The key is to zoom close in to your subject. A great photo should make one think deeper about the subject and should have multiple meanings. Many of the photos that I have received positive feedback about over the years were unplanned and I thought were just “OK.” After looking back at these photos, I discovered they all had a deeper meaning, they all told stories.  My advice to people new to photography is simple: Follow your gut and never hold back on taking a photo!”