‘Urbex’ photographer living double life teaches I.P. to shoot

Mild-mannered social studies teacher by day, daring urban exploration photographer by night, Max Boncina, 49, is living something of a double life, exploring abandoned NATO bases, nuclear power plants and underground New York City sites when he’s not in the classroom.

And Boncina combines his teaching skills with his passion for photography in Island Park, where he lives, at the Island Park Public Library, where he hosts photography workshops.

With no formal training, Boncina started his photographic journey on a whim, beginning with the lengthy film development process. He had to put the camera down while life took over for a while, and he worked as a teacher while also traveling the world. Then Instagram, the photo-sharing social media giant, inspired him to pick up a (now digital) camera up again. He believes that learning film first made him more thoughtful about the photos he was taking.

“I was just like, wow I’ve got to get back into it — it reawakened my passion I had years before,” he said. He met up with other photographers in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. Then “it was like a snowball down a mountain,” Boncina recounted. “I got a bigger social media presence, and Sony reached out to me, and I’ll never forget that we were living in Atlantic Beach because we lost our home in Sandy, and they asked if I wanted to be a Sony Ambassador.”

That meant that Sony would fund projects he was working on, give him gear and, on occasion, purchase his photos. “It gave my work backing, gave me validity when people ask, ‘Who are you with?’” Boncina said. Working with Sony, and the connections he has made, allow him to find remote and unique spots to shoot photos.

Boncina describes his as a daring, spy-esque lifestyle, “because I’m teaching social studies and I’m going to abandoned subway stations, so it is a kind of double life, but it makes it more exciting,” he said. “It’s my weekends. There’s a definite rush when you’re in these places. I’ve had a couple of close calls, but for the most part I’m older and wiser. I think I’m more responsible than other kids.”

And when his students find his work online, he has to gently dissuade them from similar exploration. He has been teaching for 20 years, and a few students have found him on Instagram, but he doesn’t condone going out and photographing the ruins of New York until they’re older, and more prepared.

Finding beauty in destruction, Boncina enjoys learning about the history before visiting places before they’re destroyed or turned into apartments. “I think it’s amazing to see these places that are going to be demolished. I noticed in the book that a lot of places I went to are gone,” he said, referring to “Max Boncina: The Forgotten World (Urbex: Le monde oublie),” a new book featuring his and three other photographers’ work that is available at the Island Park Public Library.

“There is so much variety,” he said, in where and what he shoots, listing castles in Europe and stunning 1700s villas. Finding places to explore is part of his passion, and he relies on friends and explores on his own. “Some do heavy research,” he said. “Some people will even go nuts and check real estate listings for abandoned homes. Some you find just by driving through.”

Of course, his hobby is not always safe. Shooting in Buffalo, Boncina and a friend planned to go to an abandoned cult headquarters a friend showed him. It boasted extraordinary stained glass, but when they got there, they stopped in their tracks: The grass was freshly cut. Once they saw the electricity was on, they decided not to go any closer.

“I thought, we’re upstate, if we go in and they’re in there they could shot us for trespassing, and they wouldn’t get in trouble for it,” Boncina recalled. Because he has a wife, two daughters and a full-time job teaching 11-year-olds in middle school in Brooklyn, “I have to be more wise,” he said, in order to keep exploring his passion.

He started to teach photography in Island Park to give back to the community. He approached library Director Jessica Koenig, wanting to encourage more people to pick up a camera. “I think it’s nice to give back, and I tell people things they might never even have heard about,” he said of the workshops. And he’s a natural, combining his teaching skills and photography skills. “I walk right into it, I know what to do,” Boncina said. “I know how to reach people.”

Explaining how photography can benefit anyone, he said, “It’s an amazing outlet. You can start it by yourself, learn about the world. There are so many different genres of photography — landscape, portrait, street, black and white. It’s just a beautiful art form.” If taking pictures is daunting, he said, you can still enjoy those taken by others. “Look at photography, appreciate it, look at the beauty that surrounds you,” he said. “It’s a good thing to appreciate what’s around you.”

Boncina has special plans for the future, to take the perfect photo no one has ever seen before. He can’t share what that is yet, but it’s in the works. “I really fell like I’ve done so much, and I’m really excited for this year and what I have planned,” he said. “I feel I’m really in a good place,” His perfect photo, he added, is one that is “original, beautiful and special.”