Second year college-level students studying on our UAL Extended Diploma in Photography are working on their second year client briefs. The project challenges students to work with multiple clients across two week periods to gain experience working with local businesses to prepare them for working in the industry.

This years clients are business Tabitha Kate, Yarm Athletic Football Club, Jesmonite North and Creative Village. Second year student Iris commented “Working with clients is certainly a large responsibility, having to consider and accept their requirements and expectations, rather than create something that only appeals to you as the photographer.”

“Each brief and client has been very different in terms of expectation, the type of imagery that they would like us to make, and the products or ethos they want us to promote. Although, for many reasons, I have really liked photographing for all briefs, I personally think that the Yarm Athletic Football Club was my favourite. My group and I did more location shooting than studio photography, which made things a lot more intriguing as there were elements within the setting that we could interact with and use to our advantage in the imagery. It was also an interesting experience to work with models, compared to still objects.”

Lecturer Richard Alley explains, “this year we decided to make the project much more concise and push a sense of pressure i:e working to shorter and tighter deadlines, meaning that the group have only two weeks to work with each client. Students are put into four groups which change over at each new client stage.. so far they have thoroughly enjoyed the project as the brief is very hands on, shooting every other day and exploring many varying forms of client product/needs.”

Speaking of the skills learnt, Iris said “I would definitely say that working through this project has given me the opportunity to build my communication skills – both with a client (in a professional manner) and with teammates to ensure that the brief is being fulfilled correctly. I have also had the chance to develop my knowledge of the studio, ultimately preparing me for a career in photography. I am really looking forward to continuing in this style of photography, and having the opportunity to work with a variety of amazing people!”

These client briefs are an example of the industry focus that our diplomas have, giving students a range of skills suited to different parts of the industry. If you are interested in studying photography at college level make sure you find out more here. You can also book your place on our next open day here.