Living in Medway I wanted to choose a progression route that would be local to where I live. I chose to study at Medway School of Arts due to the circumstances in which it was formed; to reintroduce creative higher education courses to Medway, since the closure of UCA Rochester.
I’m a big believer in my local area, there are so many elements that make Medway great, including our ever-growing creative community. Therefore, it felt vital to attend MSA: to support our creative community by putting trust in both MidKent College, the educational establishment that pushed me to learn the skills of a photographer, but to also support our community by putting trust in a brand-new Art School in Medway.
Taking a gap year wasn’t a justifiable option for me, as I wanted to be active within the creative sector. Therefore, I chose to do the Foundation Diploma in Art and Design to give me a year to participate in creative practices but also to give me time to decide my next steps. Starting the Foundation Diploma felt strange at first because for the previous two years I had only studied and produced work in a digital format. Before my Photography Extended Diploma I had studied Art at GCSE level, however that was during the COVID pandemic so a lot of what I should have learned was not possible. So, starting the Foundation Diploma meant learning new skill sets that I had either never done before or hadn’t done in a long time, such as drawing, painting, lino printing and much more!
Studying a Foundation Diploma gives you a massive opportunity to learn new skills and to evolve your current practice. You get the opportunity to learn and improve on: Graphic Design, Fine Art, Digital Illustration, Animation and Photography. Beginning this course I would have said I was a digital commercial photographer, but through learning, developing, and adapting, I have been able to explore more of an art-based photography output, such as producing gel medium transfers for my final piece, and exploring work with more story behind it. Studying at Medway School of Arts has pushed me to further explore my future as a photographer, having been given the opportunity to professionally exhibit 3 times in one year, I’ve learned the skills of curating and hanging an exhibition. That has pushed me to explore this further by taking this knowledge into the world to try and create opportunities like this for other likeminded individuals.
Before the start of this year, I told people I was done with education, and that I was ready to go straight into the workforce. However, through the duration of the course I have come to realise how vital continued learning can be to a career, and that you can be in the workforce whilst also continuing to develop and adapt your own knowledge of the practice you specialise in. Next year I will be progressing to the Higher National Diploma in Photography at Medway School of Arts, which wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t recognise the importance in continuing to learn.