Senior Josh Manio is known as someone who can take a good picture.

Despite snapping photos of his friends with a digital camera, he didn’t take this talent seriously until the spring of his junior year, when his love for photography was sparked after hitting an artistic plateau.

Before photography, he focused on fashion and sewing. When he decided to stop making clothes, he hit a “weird time” in his life when he didn’t know what to do creatively.

“I had been really into fashion, and I had noticed this interest went far more than just a hobby,” Manio said. “It was something I seriously wanted to do. So when I decided I was going to stop making clothes, it was like, ‘I’ve been taking it seriously, building up all this experience, for what?’ I had all this knowledge. I knew so many people through fashion and I knew so much about it, but I was just not doing anything with it.”

This knowledge came from Manio’s absorption of fashion media. Brands he especially likes include Enfants Riches Déprimés, Celine and Saint Laurent. Some of his favorite magazines include Terminal 27, Hot Mess and The Face.

Senior Emma Kolah has known Manio since sophomore year and since then has noticed this knowledge of and love for fashion in his everyday outfits.

“Josh expresses himself daily through his outfits,” Kolah said. “Each one is expertly crafted and each piece carries value. If you ask him about his outfits, he will give you not only where each piece is from but its history and why it is significant in his outfit.”

This prior experience in fashion served as an entryway into photography, prompting Manio to experiment with editorial shoots of proper lookbooks, in which styling is a key step in producing the final photograph.

As his photography has developed, so has the focus of his works, expanding beyond fashion.
Though his pieces still incorporate styling within them, it’s not always at the forefront. Instead, Manio prioritizes more of the storytelling aspect, including themes and messages.

“One of my shoots was taken from the perspective of an older individual towards the youth,”
Manio said. “I had my models cosplay as different occupations and how they kind of serve as a
disappointment to older generations, who are always criticizing the things we want to do with our lives. I wanted to highlight that by purposely having my models exhibit destructive behavior.”

The messages portrayed in his photography often align with Manio’s personal experiences. In this photoshoot, he took inspiration from the negative association he has noticed accompanies photography, due to how financially unsafe and unreliable it is.

Another message Manio hoped to display through his shoots is about the role the Internet plays in people’s lives.

“I did another photo shoot that reflected the Internet as a whole, on how it can dilute your personality,” Manio said. “People who build a dependence on the Internet can have a hard time finding themselves. It just really distracts from forming your personality or identity.”

Manio recognizes that the message he chooses to portray won’t be perfect, as it comes from the perspective of an adolescent who still isn’t past the teenage phase. However, despite still having things to learn, Manio hopes his messages connect with people and bring a deeper meaning to his photography.

“There’s a reason people resonate with my photography,” Manio said. “It’s not just because it’s a good picture, because there are a million good pictures out there. It’s because of the message behind it, and that’s always my aim.”

For Manio, including this deeper meaning allows his audience to more thoughtfully view his photography. He believes that photography in general gives people the opportunity to interpret and observe media and art.

“I want people to have more conscious thinking because as a society, it’s very easy to get wrapped up in the whole notion of societal expectations,” Manio said. “So a lot of times we’re not even going about our own lives at our own pace. Photography allows us to take deep breaths, it allows us to think more. What photography can do is just create a lot more critical thinking, because a lot of times people are mindless when they consume media.”

Because Manio cares about the meaning behind his photographs, there is a lot of preparation that goes into each one. He spends a week getting ready for photoshoots, using that time to contact and sign models and create mood boards for inspiration.

Manio’s photography teacher Courtney Skinner recognizes how much effort he puts into his photography, specifically what she calls his “fearless approach to experimentation.”

“He doesn’t hesitate to try new techniques, settings or perspectives to bring his vision to life,” Skinner said. “His photographs always have a unique, polished quality that reflects both his artistic maturity and his personal style.”

Despite this preparation and effort, there are always challenges with photography. Manio has found it hard to balance his passion for photography with his responsibilities as a high schooler.

“One of the challenges that I’ve definitely acknowledged with photography is the sustainability of it,” Manio said. “The only way to really pursue photography seriously is to be consistent with it. With being in high school and then trying to get a highly organized shoot, it’s very hard to do it as consistently as I want to.”

Along with inconsistency, another challenge of photography is the instability.

“You’re not ever going to be guaranteed a model,” Manio said. “You’re never going to be guaranteed that the weather on this day is going to be fine for the perfect picture. You can’t guarantee that your idea is necessarily a good idea and that it’s going to encapsulate everything that you want.”

Even with the challenges, Manio loves photography and it is his dream to pursue it after high school. He’s going to New York to attend the Parsons School of Design within The New School, where he hopes to transform his love into a career.

He has learned a lot about photography and has grown a lot ever since taking that first picture on a digital camera. One motivation behind that growth is a piece of advice his friend told him when he initially started photography, which still sticks with him today.

“If you’re going to take a photo, take it with intention,” Manio said. “Take it so that you’re able to look back and be like, ‘Yeah, I’m never getting that moment back,’ and you’re just glad to have it with you.”