Sid Grossman's approach to photography was critical to Bernstein's development both as an artist and as a mentor to others. Grossman "forced his students to discover not only what constituted a good photograph but, more importantly, their emotional relationship to it." However the latter statement came, not as something he learned from his first teacher. Four years after Grossman's death in 1954, one of Bernstein's colleagues urged him to study with the American poet, critic, and philosopher
Eli Siegel. Bernstein began studying
Aesthetic Realism in 1962 and continued to do so until 1973. The photographer remained openly grateful to Siegel, writing that "...new doors have been opened up for me. I have become more aware of my own possibilities..." Bernstein had long nurtured a desire to teach photography but felt inhibited. In his own words, "The trouble was, I simply didn't know enough." What his association with Aesthetic Realism gave him was a methodology and a vocabulary to transmit what he had learned to his students. He resumed teaching in 1970 and kept at it for three decades. Bernstein had benefited greatly from his participation in Sid Grossman's workshops and sought to emulate his teacher's approach. The first thing was for his students to enjoy themselves when they were out photographing. However, Bernstein made some important refinements to the workshop methodology. Students were expected to bring in their work for criticism. But whereas Grossman could be sarcastic and biting in his approach, ("Sid never told me what was good. He only told me what was bad...") By talking about other photographers' work, each student was developing his own critical facility—essential to his own development as a photographer. Just as Grossman continued to teach privately after he left The Photo League in 1949, so too, Bernstein conducted weekly sessions from his home for many years. In 1992, Bernstein estimated that he had worked with over 600 students. In addition to the informal workshops he conducted, Bernstein also taught formally at various institutions. In 1971, when W. Eugene Smith took a sabbatical from his teaching position at
Cooper Union, he recommended that Bernstein take his place. Smith had previously recommended him for a Guggenheim grant in a "Confidential Report on Candidate for Fellowship" from December 1969, as had
Wynn Bullock in a letter dated November 17, 1966. The following year, Bernstein taught a similar class, "Creative Approach to Photography," at the Phoenix School for Art and Design. After he had spent years photographing at the New York Aquarium at Coney Island, he was asked to share some of what he had learned in a course entitled "Aquatic Awareness," which he conducted from 1980 to 1985. He also authored a column entitled "Critique" in the magazine
Camera 35 from 1968 to 1973, which enabled him to reach a wider audience throughout the United States. == Exhibitions ==