PC3: Future in the Photographic Landscape

Stepping into next level can be tricky and panic. Because it is unknown and it might be a risk if finding that the way doesn't suit you. This session focused on getting prepare to reality and how you choose your right path, providing some tips and useful information what you should be aware of if working in photographic workplace.

Working in imagery industrial can be diverse, you could be a photographer but also a picture research. However, working as a photographer needs to consider lots of things, such as thinking business plan, if you work as a sole trader, where to find your clients. You would also need your equipment like camera, laptop. The most important is what sort of photographer you are, have you seeing yourself as a fashion photographer or documentary photographer?

Going further education like MA/PhD is another path, same as starting your career, there are some considerations you might be aware. For example, their requirement, some courses are expected applicant to hold an upper-second degree, some have got a lower standard. Importantly, doing right courses? Well, booking an open day might be useful for you, because you’ve got the chance to walk around campus, talking to stuff and joining their talk with explanation of course structure. Or attending their online chat, virtual campus view. Those would be helpful to look a right place.

Towards the end of second year, I knew that I will go into further education to expand my horizon of visual practice. When the final year started, I started to do some research looking at some courses I might be interested in. Tie up with visual aspect, I did look photography, visual communication and sequential design. I wasn’t thinking of book design because majority is about publishing and I thought it was irrelevant. Until I typed the course name on Google engine rather than using master course search engine. The one in Reading popped up, and they have changed the title of the course name, which is communication design. So if you join this course you could choose which pathway you would like to study.

Going through the application process is such as huge pressure, you will be filling the same information in different systems, and some systems are designed in poor standard which takes me age to understand what details they require. But the good thing is most of them request an online portfolio or a pdf file which I don’t need to edit the content again. During this process, you will have questions to ask and I believe their reaction would affect your decision. Like I emailed to international office to ask them visa question but never got reply from them, I could phone them to double check if they got the email. It sounds silly why not just asking them directly, well that is not an urgent one and I might forget I did email them until I submitted the application, I just realised I dropped them an email.

I see myself within one year will be studying an MA, but I haven’t got further plan after MA. Maybe working as a book designer, not only with different clients but also helping artists or photographers to ensure their concepts stand out within the publication, and showing the audience that books can be playful and experimental media.