photography and Hardwick
One morning last week I was standing outside a photography studio, admiring the quality of the photos on display, when the owner came by to open up. I got chatting with him, and told him how much I liked his photos. We talked about photography in general, and making it your career too.
He was scathing about the main photographic societies, saying that the members went about awarding themselves grandiose titles, such as "Child Photographer of the Year". He said that you can judge the quality of a photographer, just by looking at his/her photos on display.
He was also critical of the multitude of students applying for university photography courses, when there are so few jobs available for them. He reckoned that Nottingham Trent University had 300 such graduates this year, and that only two of them would find work in Nottingham (these were his figures, not mine). Not only that but a student could end up with £15,000 worth of debt to pay off by the end of the course. He thought it would be far better for a young person who wants a career in photography, to get a job working as an assistant to a photographer, to get themselves trained up that way, and as a way of getting into the job market.
It's not surprising that a lot of young people are having second thoughts about going to uni, wondering what jobs would be available for them at the end of their study, and how they would pay off their debts. The most able students will do well at uni and will usually get the best jobs. Having wealthy parents helps too - so nothing's changed there.
There was a funny section in last Saturday's Guardian, where readers had sent in misprints they'd seen. One was a newspaper job advert for "Head of English and Liteacy Department"
Mrs C and I revisited Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire yesterday. It was built by Bess, Countess of Shrewsbury, who was the country's second wealthiest woman, second to Elizabeth 1. The house and its contents have been well preserved by successive owners (The Devonshire/Cavendish family dynasty, which Bess and her husband William started). Chatsworth was another family home, into which more money has been poured since - Hardwick became a hunting lodge for the family. And some hunting lodge it is too - fabulous tapestries and bed covers, fine furniture and paintings. Most of the interior is the same as Bess left it, so it's one of the finest houses now owned by the National Trust. I'll post a few photos of it during the coming week. The photos here are of the old hall and one of the flower borders.
He was scathing about the main photographic societies, saying that the members went about awarding themselves grandiose titles, such as "Child Photographer of the Year". He said that you can judge the quality of a photographer, just by looking at his/her photos on display.
He was also critical of the multitude of students applying for university photography courses, when there are so few jobs available for them. He reckoned that Nottingham Trent University had 300 such graduates this year, and that only two of them would find work in Nottingham (these were his figures, not mine). Not only that but a student could end up with £15,000 worth of debt to pay off by the end of the course. He thought it would be far better for a young person who wants a career in photography, to get a job working as an assistant to a photographer, to get themselves trained up that way, and as a way of getting into the job market.
It's not surprising that a lot of young people are having second thoughts about going to uni, wondering what jobs would be available for them at the end of their study, and how they would pay off their debts. The most able students will do well at uni and will usually get the best jobs. Having wealthy parents helps too - so nothing's changed there.
There was a funny section in last Saturday's Guardian, where readers had sent in misprints they'd seen. One was a newspaper job advert for "Head of English and Liteacy Department"
Mrs C and I revisited Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire yesterday. It was built by Bess, Countess of Shrewsbury, who was the country's second wealthiest woman, second to Elizabeth 1. The house and its contents have been well preserved by successive owners (The Devonshire/Cavendish family dynasty, which Bess and her husband William started). Chatsworth was another family home, into which more money has been poured since - Hardwick became a hunting lodge for the family. And some hunting lodge it is too - fabulous tapestries and bed covers, fine furniture and paintings. Most of the interior is the same as Bess left it, so it's one of the finest houses now owned by the National Trust. I'll post a few photos of it during the coming week. The photos here are of the old hall and one of the flower borders.
posted by justin at 7:16 am
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2 Comments:
I agree with the photographers view on oversupply of trained students. Here in NZ I have for a long time been angry with the regional polytechs and one TV station in particular, for running Film and TV training courses, with to my mind money gathering foremost, and student welfare lagging behind. In about 2003 they were pumping out somewhere close to 3,000 students a year, from 6 week to year long courses, costing up to $18,000NZ.Only the highly reputable NZ Broadcasting School in Christchurch almost guaranteed a placement in the industry for its students each year. The chances for the rest were slim.They often only wanted to be directors too, producing bleak, dark videos as part of their course work, while certain craft roles, sound recording for example cry out for beginners. Film and TV skills by and large are learnt on the job...rant over from a semi retired TV Lighting Cameraman.
Yes, edt, it all sounds crazy - and yet why do students enroll for courses like these, when they must know that job prospects are poor? Perhaps the schools career advisers need enlightening about all this?
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