“An ever evolving photography course which aims to introduce and develop a variety of digital and analogue photographic skills”
Portraits of Coventry
So it’s getting really close to the end of the year and the students are about to submit their final major projects. Daniel McCausland has been working on a series of anonymous portraits of people from Coventry. His final series will be shown at our exhibition ‘through the lens’ at Coventry’s Canal Basin on the 8th – 10th July.
Final Major Projects
So we’ve been keeping ourselves really busy over the last few weeks in preparation for the end of year. Students are well on their way to completing their FMPs and we’re excited to be showcasing them at the end of year show in June.
From urban landscapes to body imagery, from fashion to portraiture and narrative our students are producing a wide ranging body of work. You can follow their progress on their Instagram and their blog.
Photo: Lauren Hancock
Light & Architecture
The first years, amongst other projects, are currently studying the unit; Communication through art & design. Like last year we are using this project to explore the theme ‘Recording Coventry’. Along with researching the work of fellow Coventrian, George Shaw, students are carrying out their own exploration of the city they live in. Starting with looking at architecture within the city they are photographing the local area identifying the use of strong line, shadow, light and human interaction within these spaces. These images taken by Hannah Mobley and Dylan Mukenge are some excellent examples of the images taken so far.
Ilford Student Competition 2015
We are delighted to announce that one of our students has been awarded a runner up place in this year’s Ilford student competition. Hayley Allsop received the runner up prize in the digital category for her image ‘Miss Haversham’. Dylan Mukenge was also highly commended for his ‘neon’ image. 1000 entries from colleges around the UK were shortlisted to 95 in which 10 were our students! We are so proud of all of our students who took part for this incredible achievement.
Cocktails
The second years are back in the studio and this time they are exploring food photography. Before embarking on their own shoots we explored a few recreations – the first being a strawberry/grapefruit cocktail. Inspiration came from the shoot for Sweet Paul last summer shot by Andrea Bricco. These photos were taken by Matilda Lydiard and Lauren Hancock and for a first attempt at such a complicated shoot we think they have done a great job.
Portraits
Week two of the first years’ portrait project has produced this image by Dylan Mukenge. After initially exploring this location a few weeks ago Dylan returned to further develop his original idea. This is just one of a series of images taken and we love how he has developed his skills and produced an image that explores light and interaction between his subjects.
Environmental Portraits
It’s assessment time for the first years and they are exploring portraits. Having spent the last few weeks looking for light and how to use and manipulate it they are starting to produce a range of images from close ups to environmental portraits.
This image, by Elizabeth Kolasa, explores the use of artificial light at home. We are really impressed with how Elizabeth has lit both subject’s faces, their interaction with each other and the strong composition. After this excellent start we are very much looking forward to seeing what else Elizabeth and the rest of the class produce.
Style Magazine Covers
Year 2 have been hard at work this week finishing off their studio project. Asked to create images suitable for a style magazine, such as a Sunday supplement, the students have been creating portraits with a variety of lighting set ups including the use of colour gels. Here are two examples of what has been produced so far. Work by Hayley Allsop & Matilda Lydiard.
Blurred portraits
The first year photography students are exploring the use of fast and slow shutter speeds. By replicating the Duane Michals’ image of Andy Warhol they have explored how changing speeds and balancing apertures create correct exposures as well as blurred/frozen effects. Click here for the gallery
Second Year Polaroids
It’s the return of the 2nd years! They are back with plenty of enthusiasm and cannot wait to get started on their narrative and studio based projects. Like the first years we started with a little polaroid session and a thorough re-introduction to studio lighting. Stay tuned for what they been up to in week one. Oh and the question mark? That’s reserved for Jamie who couldn’t make it back this week – we’re all looking forward to him joining us asap.
First year polaroids
Yesterday was the first day of term for our new level 3 students so we kicked off with a photo session in the studio. These are the polaroids that were taken of and by each of the new class. After this great start we can’t wait to see what wonderful work this group will produce.
Love is enough exhibition
At the end of last term students from level 2 and 3 photography travelled to Birmingham for the day to visit the ‘Love is enough’ exhibition at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. The exhibition brought together the works of, pop art icon, Andy Wahol and Arts & Crafts giant, William Morris. The exhibition has been curated by Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller.
Love is Enough draws together iconic and rarely seen works by two giants of the 19th and 20th centuries. This unconventional combination of artists’ work is curated by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller who cites Morris and Warhol as his two greatest artistic influences.
Students who were studying art movements with Helen for their Contextual studies unit found the exhibition to be a great introduction to these influential periods. They were also very interested in the dressing up box!!
Fujifilm Student awards
Congratulations to Jordan Gray who last year was awarded a special Merit in the Fuji Student Awards for his reflection image.
I managed to keep the boundaries of the pond in the frame. A photo of a Mosque reflected in a puddle by Bruno Kolovrat initially inspired my image. I chose Neopan 100 Acros as I wanted to shoot the image in black and white to get the abstract texture. I also stretched the film to an ISO of 400.
Students were asked to explore the theme ‘reflection’ and to interpret it using one of Fuji’s films. All level 3 and level 2 students were given the opportunity to submit their images to the fuji website. MetroPrint Creative Director, Steve Macleod, commented:
This has a strong composition that works on several levels. The image is simple and well constructed, the eye is led around allowing me to move in and out of the image and plays with the abstract elements of the picture
We are really proud of Jordan and his achievement and we encourage all of our students to enter the competition next year.
Coventry University degree show
At the end of last term students visited the photography degree show at Coventry University and had the opportunity to discuss the work with some of the graduates.
Links to the degree show can be found here: http://www.collective-vision.org.uk/
Welcome Back
After the summer break we are now back with a range of projects that will explore narrative and studio skills. We also welcome our new Level 3 students who are about to start their first year. We will be starting this term with an intensive few months introducing you to both the darkroom and digital skills.
HCCphoto 