Through his lens, Ray Pfortner teaches others to see

On a misty morning in 1994, Ray Pfortner stood on the gravelly shore of a Vashon seaside along with his digital camera in hand. The quiet morning broke when a black dorsal fin exhaled by way of the floor of the Salish Sea yards away.

This second resulted within the shot of a lifetime for Pfortner, a Vashonite who supplied the scientific proof (tinyurl.com/WA-Department-of-Ecology) in opposition to a proposed gravel pit within the month of September the place scientists believed orcas weren’t current throughout that month, permitting industries to freely extract gravel from ecosystems close by.

Decades later, that very same J-Pod breach picture stays as a reminder of the significance of preserving the island.

“Just a weekend ago, somebody said to me, ‘aren’t you the guy that took those orca photographs?’” Pfortner mentioned, noting that though the picture was captured again in 1994, he nonetheless will get stopped by residents right this moment.

Bringing a novel background as a scientist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency greater than 30 years in the past, Pfortner left his hometown of New York City to maneuver to Vashon. By combining his background in science and artwork, he transitioned into the tutorial world, the place he has taught for almost a decade on the University of Washington Continuum College.

For Pfortner, instructing pictures is greater than the technical settings and compositions behind the lens. It’s about embracing discomfort in inventive practices.

“With a lot of my students, when they get outside their comfort zone, they don’t like it, but boy, do they produce interesting work like they’ve never done before,” Pfornter mentioned. “And I think we all need to do that to be provoked.”

Recently honored with the 2025 Legacy in Teaching Excellence Award (tinyurl.com/UW-2025-Legacy-in-Teaching) by the University of Washington, Pfortner has developed from a biologist with a digital camera into one of many area’s major inventive mentors.

Pfortner’s teachings have reached a number of generations, from center and excessive schoolers in UW Youth & Teen Programs to adults in Professional & Continuing Education and retirees within the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute on the UW.

His impression influenced UW’s media group to spend a 12 months documenting his school rooms. A undertaking that resulted in a newly launched documentary within the 2025 Impact Report (tinyurl.com/UW-2025-Impact-Report).

Through his pictures teachings, his college students use their very own views to seize highly effective pictures. This intentional approach of inspiring college students is exactly why his programs at Vashon Center for the Arts stay at capability 12 months after 12 months.

“I find that pushing myself and my students to tell stories is about interpreting what’s in front of their lens, not just recording it,” Pfortner mentioned. “Photography has always had the power to record accurately what’s out there.”

Wendy Finkleman, the Education Director for VCA, who has labored alongside Pforner for 16 years, notes that discovering an teacher who can join with individuals of various ages is uncommon within the arts.

“It’s both Ray as an instructor and photography as a medium that appeals to all age ranges,” Finkleman mentioned. “Ray does a great job of tailoring the content and the experience for the specific age group he is working with.”

Pfortner places this into apply throughout his two-week youth camps on the UW campus. There, he takes his college students to the UW Biology Greenhouse, up the Tower Urban Garden and even down into the historic steam tunnels to {photograph} the whole lot in sight.

What Pfortner is most excited to show his college students this summer time is a novel, hands-on method he calls “photo styling.” An idea that conventional photographers don’t train, the place he challenges college students to take a inventive leap of religion by rearranging parts in entrance of the lens.

Whether it’s arranging flower petals or adjusting leaves on the bottom, he teaches them that moral, imaginative preparations are a robust instrument for storytelling.

Pfortner’s inventive classes are what stored college students like Elise Sherry coming again for years. Now a highschool freshman at Vashon High School, Sherry has been a pupil in Pfortner’s youth photograph camps since she was simply 8 years outdated. In the classroom, she is a trusted chief, serving as an assistant for Pfortner. Her journey first started at a camp session that impressed her to proceed training pictures.

“I remember Ray talking about the ‘Dutch angle’ and how important it is to get low down on the ground,” Sherry recalled. “He told us the point of photography is to show other people the way you view the world through your own lens.”

Having spent almost a decade studying from Pfortner, she has gained abilities within the craft, acknowledging Pfortner for increasing her perspective on what it means to be an artist.

“He helped me grow a lot as a person in understanding the different forms of artistry,” she mentioned. “I carry that with me in why I choose to continue to do photography, and why it’s actually something worthwhile.”

On Vashon, Pfortner’s strategy is formed by his long-running “Shoot to Show” class, the place as much as 20 college students of all ages come collectively to decide on a theme or location to {photograph} as a bunch.

This 12 months, for his twenty fifth session of the category, Pfortner shifted his focus towards a neighborhood landmark that’s particularly significant for him: the Tramp Harbor Pier.

“On Vashon, it’s my favorite place to photograph,” Pfortner mentioned. “And in the world, one of my favorite places to photograph.”

Because the ageing pier is at the moment leaking creosote, a wooden preservative pesticide, into the water, the location has been closed off on account of security hazards. Pfortner aimed his workshop on the pier to boost neighborhood consciousness for its substitute and rebuilding.

During his workshops, Pftorner led his college students out within the mornings to doc the pier and introduced visitor audio system to teach them on its ecological and historic significance.

Instead of internet hosting a conventional gallery exhibition, Pfortner reserved a spot on the island’s historic movie show to showcase his college students’ work throughout its weekly neighborhood evening, devoted to selling consciousness on the island.

“We had the theater pretty full, and each student got up and presented their work on the big screen,” Pfortner mentioned. “The groups that are trying to get the pier rebuilt were just thrilled.”

As Pfortner stood behind the theater his pictures profession appeared to come back full circle.

Decades after certainly one of his pictures helped defend Vashon’s orcas, he’s now instructing and galvanizing his neighborhood to guard their island utilizing their very own lenses.

“To me, that was an entree that my photography gave me to be standing there with a big audience applauding and cheering, and students all excited,” Pfortner mentioned. “It was just fabulous.”