For the second year in a row, a Penn Manor High School student has won the top prize in a statewide photography contest designed to raise awareness about litter.
Jason Joniec, a Penn Manor senior, earned a first-place award in the student category of the 2023 Gene Capaldi Lens on Litter Photo Contest, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Resources Council.
Jason’s black-and-white photo, “Natural Grown Couch,” depicts a deteriorated couch that was dumped in the woods with foliage growing in and around it.
“It was photographed in Washington Boro near Blue Rock Boat Launch back in September,” Jason said. “I entered the photo to try to get my work out there and expand my portfolio, and I was incredibly excited when I heard I had won.”
Jason is enrolled in Maggie Cantrell’s Photography III class at Penn Manor High School.
“I was working on a project in my photo class highlighting humanity’s effect on nature, and this photo really matched that theme well,” said Jason, who received a $500 prize for his photograph.
Last year, another student of Cantrell’s, Maddie Whited, also placed first in the contest with an image of a discarded television set.
After high school, Jason plans to study mechanical engineering at Penn State Harrisburg while running a portrait photography business.
Congratulations to Jason and Ms. Cantrell on this award!
