“I chose to study at Xaverian as it felt like a place where I could grow both academically and creatively. I’ve really enjoyed being able to take photographs that inspire me personally and enable me to express my creativity. It’s also very satisfying when other people appreciate and connect with my photography work. We are currently working on a project around the theme of space. Last week, we researched other photographers to generate ideas and to think about what we would like to photograph.

After this, we will learn specific photographic and editing techniques, like printing photos from film in the darkroom, taking portraits using flash and light systems, and learning complex digital editing techniques on Photoshop and Camera Raw. As we move through the project, we build a web-based portfolio of our images, with lots of one-to-one support from our teacher, who encourages us to experiment and further refine our images. Towards the end of the course, all arts students get the chance to exhibit their work at the end-of-year exhibition which is open to the public for viewing. We also visit exhibitions in Manchester, and lecturers from universities come into College to give us talks on photography.”