The Journal News from White Plains, New York • Page 72

CAMERA ANGLES Tops in field of portraiture By IRVING DESFOR AP Newsfeatures When I first met Peter Nicastro about 15 years ago, he was an award-winning specialist on portraiture with a studio in Garfield, a small New Jersey town, which earned himan enviable national reputation on the studio portrait field. After that, we met periodically at professional photography conventions where he continued to win awards and had branched out into photographic lecturing, teaching and writing. Along the way he had also become a globe-girdling photographer recording travel sce-nics and native personalities in 51 countries. The pictures were exhibited and brought international notice. Two years ago I met Nicastro in an exhibition hall in Cologne, Germany, at Photokina, the world's largest photo fair.

Did you ever meet someone who was ir-repressibly joyful and bubbling with excitement when describing his work? Well, that's Peter Nicastro talking photography or his part in it. I gathered that lecturing and teaching portraiture had taken up a greater share of his time in recent years but that he felt there had to be a better way for one man to reach a wider audience than one group at one place at one time. "I believe I've found that better way!" he added. "I've been working for the past year on a modern audio-visual teaching system. It'll consist of a series of slides illustrating tape-recorded lessons and supplemented by a printed workbook for permanent reference.

"It's a way to share the techniques I've been teaching fellow professionals and "It's a package of photo education. It's topic is basic lighting in portraiture. Its students can be individuals or groups. They can study anywhere they can set up a tape recorder and a slide projector and screen. The groups can be camera clubs; in neighborhood or hobby centers; or photo classes in high schools, colleges or adult education facilities.

"Teaching portrait lighting by this audio-visual approach is a first of its kind," Nicastro reported. "It's been in operation the past few months and the reports have been good. Now meet the The self-learning course consists of a 221-page study-book and 12 separate units called "modules." The modules, numbered 1 through 12, have been arranged to develop orderly learning continuity and, like good teaching in general, should be studied in sequence. Each module contains a hi-fidelitv tape cassette on which is recorded the progressive lessons narrated by Nicastro himself and which range from 14 to 31 minutes in duration. Each module also contains between 33 and 51 slides to illustrate the cassette tape.

The slides are synchornized with the tape text and are advanced when an audible signal is heard. The supplementary study-book reviews the material covered by the tapes and slides, and adds suggested work that will reinforce the lessons by practical application. Needless to say, success in learning depends greatly on a student's conscientious attention to the teaching and how much he or she gets involved in the suggested homework. Some of Nicastro's ideas on basic portrait lighting will appear in further J' "giX 1 -mimiirn nr Profile lighting is example of portraiture by Peter Nicastro of Garfield, N.J. at the same time or at any place or time convenient for any audience.

"I think it's a breakthrough on portrait instruction a teaching method that's not been done before." That brings us to the present chapter of the story. I had another reunion with Nicastro recently and he was as exuberant and spirited as ever but this time like a proud father with a new baby. And that's practically what it was. Three years of work have produced a tangible result, an audio-visual, self-learning study course: "The Dynamics of Light in Portrait Photography" by Peter A. Nicastro for Pho tography Learning Systems, Garfield, N.J.

"Here it is," he said, "although when I saw you in 1972 in Photokina, I had no idea of how many technical complications lay ahead of me. The basic concept of teaching by combining slides with explanatory tape recordings plus a studybook for reference seemed simple enough. But production of the completed package required the coordinated skills of a great many friends who are also engineers, sound technicians, educators, script writers, editors and printers. With their guidance and expertise, the production came through. students for many years.

It's a system whereby one recording can reach hundreds 6f individuals or groups in hundreds of cities 20 THE JOURNAL-NEWS.