I thought I might open up my blog with a subject very close to my heart. I went to a school that had the majority of students taking PCB or PCM (which is just a fancy abbreviation for a science or maths). Whether they wanted to take those subjects for enjoyment or long-term success is a debate for a different blog entirely, but the fact of the matter was that there were only a few people who did creative subjects; especially photography. I had a class of four, which I thoroughly enjoyed seeing during my two years of study. However, once the lesson ended and I returned to the Sixth Form Centre, the barrage of comments would come flying.

“Photography is useless and easy”

This was the first time I was confronted about my beloved subject. I remember it vividly; a cold break (11:30) sat outside on the benches, quietly tucking into a pastry of some sort (it had a shortbread base, layered with caramel then chocolate, but you couldn’t quite call it a millionaire shortbread). 

I feel as though the perception others have of photography is that it’s a bunch of edgy kids wanting to show off their quirkiness by clicking a shutter release at whatever is in front of them. Whilst I’m sure everyone at some point has been secretly posing their new L-series 70-200mm in hopes someone might call them the next Henri Cartier-Bresson, A-level is not that time.

“Easy” is not part of the course. The work was time-consuming on a good day and had to be completed with relevance in mind (If people would like a blog on A-level photography and what it entails, I’d be sure to supply). If your work didn’t meet expectations, it was a complete redo for you. I can appreciate how precise my teacher was now that I’ve finished my course, but there was nothing worse than hearing that the 4 hours of work you did wasn’t relevant enough to keep in your book. Apply that to 3 sketchbooks, a research book, an essay and 2 full SD cards, and you can hopefully see it’s not a walk in the park.

My point has never been to argue:

“My subject is just as hard as yours”

It’s a cheap argument; just mere bickering like children arguing about who has a bigger house. Usefulness is where photography is vital for me. Completing work in photography is somewhat structured. You present an image, then comment on each factor that justifies your choice. Justification is such a valuable skill in writing. I used it at every level of my education, and will continue to do so at university, possibly after that.

I’d like to present an example of what I mean using an image I’ve yet to use in any project

For context, this image was taken near Christmas Day at a house in Devon. The day was eerily stranger than the other days we’d had. 

I wanted to convey how I was confused about the setting. It was… creepy. Not quite scary; there wasn’t any real threat, but just enough ‘off’ that it was noticeable. Composition is the most important factor for me. The tree and highest point of the house sit just left of the centre, but not far enough to apply the rule of thirds (a compositional rule that places impact on the subject located on each third of the frame). The bottom to middle left of the frame is cluttered, displaying the messy dock in its decrepit state. However, a slight glance right and the frame opens up, revealing calm water which presents the dichotomy between the two sides of the image. Just through composition, we are presented with a jumbled state of emotion, mimicking my exact feeling at the time; not quite comfortable.

Now imagine applying the same level of justification across seven or eight other techniques. That’s a lot of justifying, more so than I would’ve done in my other subjects. Whether I paid enough attention in those other subjects is a different matter entirely.

But here we are, nearing the end of the blog, where I can’t help but ask why I spent my time thinking about this. There’s already enough justifying in photography alone, why waste time doing it to someone who clearly doesn’t appreciate it like I do? That’s exactly what I’m really trying to convey. It doesn’t matter if the thing you do makes you money, gets you into the best university, opens the most doors of opportunity or acts as the best long-term strategy. There should be one priority when choosing something to study: Enjoyment. If you truly love the thing you do, no one’s words will sway your passion for it. With that, I thank you immensely for reading my first blog, and I hope this will be the start for many other topics of discussion.