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Work experience puts photography graduate’s skills in the frame
01/11/2019
A University of Wolverhampton graduate has put her photography skills in the frame by working with the Black Country Chamber of Commerce on their new look business magazine.
Annie Benton, 21, from Wolverhampton, studied for a BA (Hons) Photography degree in the University’s School of Art, and was put forward for some work experience to take photographs for the Black Country Chamber’s redesigned Prosper magazine which was officially launched in September.
One of the articles in the magazine focused on the West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, and Annie took a series of photographs of him in the School of Art’s photographic studios, as well as attending Chamber events to provide a catalogue of images for use in other stories in the magazine.
Annie Benton is a Wolverhampton-based self-portraiture and performance photographer, who works around the areas of Feminism and Women's rights within history and the modern day. She is currently a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University.
Annie said: “I was given the chance to photograph for the Chamber at their Black Country Women in Leadership event and it has provided me with a chance to develop my own network of connections and to build my portfolio within Press and PR photography. Working with Andy Street and with Prosper on a professional live brief is valuable experience for any photographer, and to have achieved this before I had graduated was a big achievement.”
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said: “Annie is clearly a very talented and technically-skilled photographer and I enjoyed being photographed by her – because she made it so easy. She impressed me greatly in the way she set up the shots for Prosper, and also in the way she communicated what she wanted me to do.
“Attitudes to photography are, I think, changing a great deal thanks to social media and the explosion in digital technology. However, I think it’s only when you meet a photographer of Annie’s ability and skillset that you appreciate the difference between professional photography and the pictures we all take and share on our phones every day.
“After the photo shoot I was lucky enough to be shown around the Wolverhampton School of Art with Annie, which is where she studied photography. I understand that, having graduated, she is now part of the teaching faculty there, which I think is fitting - as she can share her skills and talent with the next generation of photographers.”
Sarah Thompson, Press & PR & Communications Manager for the Black Country Chamber of Commerce and Editor of Prosper Magazine, said: “Annie was put forward by one of the University’s photography lecturers and she was a godsend.
“Not only did this project offer her some valuable work experience, but it helped us to publish a brand new look magazine which featured some great images. Not only did Annie take pictures of the Mayor, which he liked so much they are using them on his own publicity materials, she also took a lot of the images for the Prosper People page, too.”
Anyone wanting to study Photography should register for the next Open Day on Saturday 16th November 2019.
ENDS
For more information please contact the Corporate Communications Team.
