Jay McCabe

When we spoke with Nathan he was less than a year out of high school and about to conclude the first year of the academy’s two-year program, where his photo class assignments are often more than classwork. “Most of them are practice for me; they get my ideas going, and I go out and do my own shots,” he says. Several of the photos here resulted from that kind of inspiration. The smoking man is Nathan’s grandfather, who also appears in the staged behind-bars image—proving once again the value of a cooperative relative.

A photo history course introduced Nathan to some of the classic black-and-white images, and their compositional strength was a major influence on his work. “I think black and white makes a stronger statement than color,” Nathan says, “and I think that all my really strong compositions will be in black and white.” Still, because he shoots Raw files with his camera set for black and white, the Raw file is preserving the scene’s color so he can compare the results after the capture.

Steven Spoto
Seffner Christian Academy
Seffner, Florida

Set Pieces

Although Seffner doesn’t offer formal photography classes, Steven, who is a senior at the school, added to his self-taught skills by joining the school’s photo club, which his father, Joe, instructs. “But what got me started in photography,” Steven says, “was the photography merit badge in Boy Scouts, which my dad also teaches.”

Steven’s been on the school’s yearbook staff for two years as a photographer and editor, and he’s won several first prizes in the Florida State Fair youth photography competition.

The documentary style and strong compositions that mark his black-and-white, toned, and muted-color photos attracted our attention. Steven says he’s definitely drawn to the carefully arranged, carefully thought-out image. “When I was first getting into photography…I saw the work of Ansel Adams, and he did a very good job of making sure that everything in his pictures was exactly the way he wanted it. I always thought that’s the kind of thing I want to try to imitate.

It’s a small magazine—51⁄2x41⁄4 inches, 16 black-and-white pages—handmade, unpretentious and totally engaging, charming even. Room 620 is published quarterly during the school year by the students in Joe Baltz’s third-year photography class at Joliet Central High.

Chris Fulcher
Newtown High School
Sandy Hook, Connecticut

Enterprise
At 17, Chris Fulcher’s already been in the photography business for over three years. And we do mean business.

He began taking photos at 14 because of his interest in paintball. “It became too expensive to play,” Chris says, “and I thought [photography] might be a way to still be part of the sport.” He borrowed his father’s camera and started shooting. A year later he had his own camera and his own business when an online magazine hired him to shoot at professional paintball events. “My parents would fly with me to some of the matches, and sometimes I’d travel with a paintball team.”