A number of leading photography professionals and practising alumni took part in a recent ten week lecture series organised for photography students at The Northern School of Art.

Amongst the speakers were photographer Simon Roberts, one of the most acclaimed contemporary photographic artists working in the UK today. His practice is principally photography based, but also encompasses video, text and installation work, which together, interrogate notions of what landscape is and how it is depicted, utilised and commodified.

Simon has exhibited widely and his photographs, including the images immediately above and below from his Sight Sacralization: (Re)Framing Switzerland series, reside in major public and private collections, including the George Eastman House, Deutsche Börse Art Collection and V&A Museum.

A talk by Julia Fullerton-Batten, a worldwide acclaimed and exhibited fine-art photographer, was also featured. Her body of work, including the images at the top and below which are part of her Contortion 2021 series, now encompasses twelve major projects spanning a decade of engagement in the field.

Julia’s use of unusual locations, highly creative settings, street-cast models, accented with cinematic lighting are hallmarks of her very distinctive style of photography and she has won countless awards for both her commercial and fine-art work, and is a Hasselblad Ambassador.

She was commissioned by The National Portrait Gallery in London to shoot portraits of leading people in the UK National Health Service. These are now held there in a permanent collection. Other images are also in permanent collection at the Musee de l’Elysee, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Final year photography degree student Hannah Dunphy, pictured below, said she really enjoyed the lecture series: “It was a great opportunity to engage with such high-profile photographers and get advice on working within the industry.

“Simon’s talk was extremely interesting and beneficial, especially his insight into personal promotion and selling his work. It was interesting to see how Simon made his career but also the reasoning and context behind his work. The most encouraging advice for me personally was explaining how it is possible to fund the work that you enjoy making through commissions.

“Julia Fullerton-Batten was really insightful into the commercial industry, but also into her personal work. Julia’s advice on starting out as a graduate was particularly interesting, especially the steps she made in order to become successful.”

Hannah, who is from Willington, County Durham, said she chose to study photographic practice at The Northern School of Art “because of the amazing facilities that are available to us, but also because of how friendly and supportive the staff are.”

The Northern School of Art’s Photography Lecturer, documentary photographer Jill Cole, added: “It has been a privilege to have such an inspirational series of speakers working with the photography programme over the past few months.  The aim has been to expose students to a full range of professionals who are working both nationally and internationally in the photography world.

“The speakers have been generous in sharing their creative and professional experience, offering invaluable insight to support students at every level of their studies.  Learning directly from those at the cutting edge of their profession gives our students a great head start on their own photographic journeys.”

To discover more information about The Northern School of Art’s photography degree visit https://northernart.ac.uk/study-with-us/hartlepool-campus/degree-fda-courses/ba-hons-commercial-photography-2/