With less than a month to Camberwell’s Foundation Diploma in Art and Design Summer Show 2015, we met with Photography and Time Based Media Foundation student Briony Mitchell to find out more about her experience this year.

Photography – Briony Mitchell, Print and Time Based Media student

Where are you from and why did you choose Camberwell?

I am from South East London, and when visiting Camberwell for the first time I knew immediately this was the college that best suited me. Camberwell encourages all areas from Fine Art, Communication and Design. I knew that I wanted to specialise in Fine Art photography before even starting the course, and Camberwell could allow me to do this, whilst still trying different areas. I also like the relaxed atmosphere, friendly students and staff and just the fact that Camberwell is such a vibrant area.

Photography – Briony Mitchell, Print and Time Based Media student

How has your experience at Camberwell been so far?

I have really enjoyed getting to specialise in photography, having lectures and discussions in this area made me feel more prepared for my degree. I think the fast paced projects have been beneficial and have taught me how to be more independent. I have also enjoyed installing my work in my own studio space because it has helped develop my work as each project progressed.

I now have a greater understanding of the different areas and pathways, especially within Fine Art. I was surprised how different areas such as painting, photography and sculpture can be combined and used in any of those specialism’s. The projects were extremely fast paced, some only one day, meaning decisions had to be made quickly, to produce successful outcomes. I used photography to inform my final pieces for most of my short projects, which reinforced my desire to specialise in photography and time-based media.

I have learnt to experiment with both analogue and digital photography. I normally photograph in black and white, but now I’m also doing colour. For one of our group projects, Space and Place, I produced colour images which was out of my comfort zone. I have also started to consider my framing and composition when taking photographs even more so after specialising in photography.

Photography – Briony Mitchell, Print and Time Based Media student