An article by Sophie Johnson, 2010 graduate of the BA (Hons) Photography degree course at the Cambridge School of Art.

These are the kind of whisperings frequently heard on the grapevine of university photography departments nowadays, but with thousands of photography students graduating every year who can blame the rumours for snowballing? Still, the biggest problem is not the truth from which the rumours stem but rather the ever-decreasing morale of the students who are faced with such comments. In hindsight, students are inadvertently being told by headlines and statistics not to bother or follow their dreams.

The Telegraph online has published statistics of more than 21,000 unemployed Graduates 6 months after graduation, and the BBC online states that graduate unemployment is 'at a 17 year high'. With all this in mind however, it is incredibly heartening to report the following for 2010 BA (Hons) Photography graduates at Anglia Ruskin University: 50% of graduates have employment in photography related fields, 25% have jobs in other sectors. The remaining 25% have been un-contactable. This is no small feat considering the graduation ceremony was merely 2 weeks ago and from a class of 40 students.

Adam Rowney is working as a photography assistant for Milana Bosnic Photography in Tokyo and Robert Walker has been assisting on jobs in London. Hana Fells now works for Animation and Visual Effects Studio Rhythm and Hues after submitting a final project using CGI techniques, and Richard Blyth works as a Motocross photographer and journalist for the East Anglian Daily Times and Evening Star. Miroslav Zaruba has followed his dream of working in the fashion industry, and has worked for countless shows and designers including London Fashion Week, Cambridge Clothes Show, Lida O'Reilly and Estelle Annabel. As a result of the London and Cambridge degree shows, James Goodall's (pictured) work has been added to the database of contemporary photography company Millennium Images London. Joy Stacey has shown her work at the University of Cambridge and an exhibition in Prague, and John Kingsnorth has been given a web intern post at St John's College, University of Cambridge.

Evie Miller, whose major project documented the development of a newborn, is now working as an Art and Design Technician for the Evelyn Grace Academy, and Marcus Sims is working for professional photography company Canon. Amy Christian and Anntonia Redding have both found photography work in charities Oxfam and the Air Ambulance. Simon Butler and Leo Cinicolo are known to be expanding their commercial businesses, and Shameela Beeloo joins them in working towards broadening their portfolios for the fine art photography sector.

The photography graduates of 2010 also boast 5 alumni working within the University: Emily Jasper now has a role in Media Services, Katja Medic has a Research Post within the European Storytelling Archive, and Joshua Meyland, Nicola Naylor and Sophie Johnson are working as Studio Practice Supervisors for first, second and third year students respectively, (an incredibly beneficial graduate scheme that not only benefits current undergraduates but also gives the supervisors, who are all interested in lecturing, much needed experience in teaching).

To add to this, there are a large number of alumni that have aspirations to study for an MA or postgraduate qualification including PGCE.

It is often said that graduates are usually unemployed for 6 months to a year after graduating, but this year's photography students have flown in the face of this statistic. They have demonstrated the amount of options that are available for graduating photography students but also, quite literally, the genuine level of 'Ability to Employability' that adorns our University's steps.

So, who wants to be a photography student?

Go back to the index page