By Michael Gresham
The Texas Catholic
Janell Miank credits her mother for her passion for photography.
“She wasn’t a photographer, but she always taught me the importance of taking a family photo or a group photo,” said Miank, a professional photographer doing much of the principal photography for her home parish of St. Bernard of Clairvaux in addition to her role as the safe environment and volunteer coordinator for the parish school. “I learned all of it from her.”
Miank now looks to pass that passion to eighth graders in a photography and design class at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Catholic School.
The class, a first-time offering for the school, introduced students to the fundamentals of photography during the fall semester before shifting to yearbook design and production for the spring semester.
The idea for the course began as a lighthearted challenge. Miank said when she was first approached about the idea of teaching the students photography, she agreed only if the school’s chaplain, Father Andy Kmetz, IVE, parochial vicar of St. Bernard of Clairvaux Catholic Church, committed to teaching as well.
“He said, well, the joke is on you: I am teaching a class,” she said, explaining that Father Kmetz began teaching a humanities class this past fall. “So, I said, ‘All right, fine, I guess I have to teach a class.’”
In teaching photography, Miank focuses on the fundamentals, such as understanding ISO, shutter speed, and aperture, but also introduces composition principles, such as filling the frame and the rule of thirds. In particular, she challenges the students to ask themselves, “Why do we take photos?”
“It’s to capture an emotion,” Miank said. “Even after you take a photo, you want to look at it, because you want to feel that emotion again — you want to remember that moment.”
The students have responded enthusiastically to the class.
“I’m really loving learning all the functions of the camera,” eighth grader Virginia Dédé said. “You can take photos in so many different types of ways. It’s just really fun.”
Classmate Natalie Horton added that she enjoyed Miank allowing them to experiment with the cameras, learning concepts hands-on.
“There are times when we are outside, and she’ll just say, ‘Take a picture of anything, but make sure it is at this aperture,’” Horton said. “It challenges us.”
One hands-on lesson this past fall involved photographing a newly crafted chalice. Miank took the class into the church for a product‑style session, tasking the students with assisting with staging the chalice, setting up reflectors and strobes. The students, however, opted to relocate the table on their own after noticing natural light streaming into the sanctuary.
“I was so proud, because they were reading the light,” she said. “They were taking what they learned and using it.”
Miank often tasks the students with helping photograph school and parish events, including a multicultural night in the fall, Dallas Parochial League activities, and other extracurriculars. In fact, eighth graders in the class now know that they could be called upon to snap photographs at a moment’s notice.
“Anytime I see an eighth-grade student around at an event, I’m like, ‘Alright, now you have got to shoot,’” Miank said. “They have to always be ready, and they know it.”
Miank uses the opportunities to help the budding photographers grow and to explain not only the fundamentals of photography but also how to work respectfully in worship spaces.
As the focus shifts in the spring semester, the class is undertaking yet another “first” for the school: designing a yearbook.
“They’ll be owning the yearbook this year,” Miank said, explaining that while the school has had yearbooks in the past, they were not student-led. “They’ll be organizing and designing it using a mix of their own photos along with some of mine, too.”
While Miank hopes students come to share her love of photography, she also prays that with both the design elements and photography lessons students come to understand how such mediums can help them celebrate their faith.
“When I’m shooting a Mass, I’m trying to capture the essence of that celebration to share with others. When we shoot photos at the school, we’re doing the same thing — we’re telling a story,” Miank said. “For me, that truly is a form of evangelization.”
Cutline for featured image: Eighth grader Jocelyn Peña prepares to take a photograph of a chalice during an assignment for the photography and design class being offered at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Catholic School. (St. Bernard of Clairvaux Catholic School photo)
