This year, 2nd year FdA Professional Photography students achieved a great mix of work placements, ranging from local to international, from studio to reportage, from assisting in a gallery to CGI post-production.

International and national work experiences for the FdA Professional Photography students allow them to gain an insight in the multifaceted employment and entrepreneurial possibilities after leaving Anglia Ruskin University. These placements are undertaken as part of the Work Based Learning module, which allows students to discuss and understand the importance of practical experiences.

Kerstin Hacker, Course Leader for the FdA Professional Photography and module leader says: "Work experience in the creative industries is highly important and can open doors for the future. It is important that the students are aiming high and secure a placement that suits their creative interests."

Finding placements is not always easy for the students, but once the work placement is secured it gives the students a very real sense of achievement:

Emma Nicholls, who secured a placement with a Los Angeles based fashion photographer, told us: "This experience has changed my life. I finally know that I can achieve my dream"; while fellow student Ollie Clarke, who photographed Kuomboka Festival for the Zambian News and Information Service (ZANIS) in Zambia, declared the experience as "...the best day of my life," on his Facebook page.

The connection with Zambia came through Kerstin Hacker, who is working with the University of Zambia on a British Council sponsored project to introduce a Degree Level photography curriculum at the Zambian University.

Two other students secured placements with Cambridgeshire County Council to photograph for their publications. Communication Officer Eleanor Pasfield wrote in her evaluation of the placements:
"We had so much positive feedback on the students, and it was an invaluable resource for us to be able to develop our photo library and provide photography for our publications."

Kerstin Hacker was very impressed with all the students:
"A lot of them came to me and said that they will never get any placement, that there is just no work out there. In the end all students had secured some great opportunities. I think it made them understand the degree of perseverance necessary to succeed in the creative industries."

Many of the students used the close proximity of London to their advantage and secured placements in the capital. Students were working on picture desks, photo agencies and portrait studios and some of them were offered paid work after the completion of the placement.

Kerstin Hacker is continuing to build a database of contacts. Please feel free to contact her if you think you might have a worthwhile work experience for our FdA Professional Photography students.

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