Photography Degrees and Filthy Lucre: a Reader Writes

Remember some months back, how useful it was to work out broady how much it costs to do an undergraduate photography degree? Were you shocked? Students expect to find themselves short of cash, that part is no big deal. But what about when your work is being assessed on the amount of money you’ve been able to throw at your work? Sound at all familiar?

When Stephen Sidlo, a recently finished a photojournalist graduate from Swansea wrote in yesterday, it rang all sorts of alarm bells in terms of assessment standards and general probity. His letter is reproduced here in full. Pull up your favourite armchair, pour the tea and begin.

As a very recent graduate to the BA (Hons) Photojournalism course at Swansea Met, I have time and time again complained at the lack of support and recognition that Photography students receive. Now as the Education Minister made clear they want more working class backgrounds into the institutions and me being one, have come out with debt resembling some of the figures that have been mentioned on this site. Yet after the 2007/08 year, this to me is a tip of an ever increasing iceberg I found.

Getting a student loan of around £1500 every 3 months give or take £100 is the limit I personally received. Total up how much it would be to do a basic freelance photography job, and you would have to take into consideration the main thing the camera – yet with university you can loan the cameras out it isn’t the problem apart from the studio fees previously. Minus £1000 in rent and food for those first three months, that’s £282 a month in rent – the rest in food, dependant on how much you can get from the rest, maybe travel home for Christmas as well. The overdraft is also spiralling out of control from the first two years at university don’t forget. So say there’s around £500 – £700 left, now start taking away your equipment and printing costs, and so forth.

During this year’s ADM for the NUJ in Belfast, I overheard the current problems freelance photographers are having these days with money to buy equipment. This is a valid problem as many photographers live below the breadline, some risking life and limb to bring back stories of rebel movements in Africa, or stories from Iraq. Many students look up in awe at these, yet start their careers possibly as an assistant at weddings or tea boy in a newsroom. The typical photographer shells out £2000 for a top of the range camera and lens, another £1000 maybe on lenses, £800 laptop, storage, additional digital equipment, £100 for a website, rent and food.

At the ADM I was sent as a student delegate to see how I could benefit from them, they were surprised I couldn’t afford the full fee after I had spent countless pennies on cameras, paper, business cards, £300+ on an exhibition, postcards, travel to shoot, portfolio, portfolio printing…so on. Then on rent and food.

A freelance photography speaker got on the stand and spoke of their problem of pricing within the industry, but what about us!? I did speak to them but some members did say “Well you have the student loan, and a part-time job….and some of the other students are getting on fine…” As if to say…you’ll be grand just keep plodding on. But I didn’t want to, I wanted a grade that reflects my ambition and creativity that I have sacrificed for 5 years from when I started my first college studying for a two year ND in Photography.

We do sacrifice a lot, it cost me £60 with rail card to go home to see my family…that I then sacrificed which isn’t on. Even social life was non-existent in the last year and not because of the work load. I was stressed constantly, always waiting for pay or loan day to pay for rent, food and a box of postcards. I could have cut corners and got cheaper postcards or business cards but I reckoned it would look as if no effort was put in, yet that’s not me so I designed my own on CS3 and paid £200 for them and had them for my exhibition. I understand they were needed but it’s just another bill on top of many. In a slightly twisted way I actually wish that it is debt, and that I still owe that money because I could have put more effort into it all.

A recent survey in The Guardian newspaper found that the average debt is at £17,000 with a starting salary for graduates is at £13,000 or lower. After this we still have to buy all those items on the freelance list. Universities don’t have a grant specifically for students studying photography. The Guardian also said that if I hadn’t gone to university and started out in the workplace, I’d be further up in the ladder by now and earning over £22,000.

To show you to extent of how much we students pay for I do have an appeals application form to my University in front of me stating that the amount I had to find to do my course directly contributed to why I had a lower grade. Having countless visual diaries and theory work doesn’t seem to matter apparently. If my printing paper was of less standard because of money problems it was marked down for example.

I had two jobs at one point, bar work taking up the nights, but paid pittance towards this. I don’t want to say it wholly contributed to my lower grade but I did feel that it stopped my creativity.

I look at Doctor and Law courses that are very expensive and driven, but with Photography its creativity and on many occasions I stopped short of producing something I was proud of for my finals in the London graduate show (which cost me personally around £800, food, printing, framing, renting the space, travel, business cards, postcards, portfolio…I don’t want to actually go on because it does make me angry), with no help whatsoever.

The universities do have a Student Finance department, and what they do is send you first to a councillor to literally sit there and talk to them about your feelings and life, finances (this is not a joke) and how its affecting your studies. They give you money towards the course, not the £400 a month for living. So they ask you how much you need, and you can literally feel the surprise from them when you ask for something that resembles a lotto jackpot….instead you receive £200 and go through it again next month.

I have grown away from different class bitterness, but do hold some problem with the university bureacracy who mark you down on paper weight, type and style than what the image is. I was proud of my theory work, 5 visual diaries of handwriting and image deconstruction, 2 lever arch files of contacts, plans and future development, one 8000 word dissertation and my own magazine released, and a regular student delegate for the NUJ. But at the end if Jimmy has a nicer portfolio box than Stephen it looks like it shows in the grading.

I received a Third.

I really don’t want to say it’s all the moneys fault, my theory work was sound, my dissertation the same, the only problem I can see is that when in March/April some people still had money left they continued and had fresh work for exhibition, I used my work I had done previously which was stronger, yet wasn’t taken into consideration because they didn’t want to look at previous work for a 60% assessment module.

I felt very empty and still do. I didn’t want to base my photography creativity on how much money I have, yet that is how I found it. My website is also half-done because I couldn’t find the rest of the money to pay him.

I now am applying for photography jobs, yet have no faith for a while after my results, living back at home, I am also on the dole while I look for bar work because I don’t have any money for new business cards, lenses or a flash for occasional freelance work. I am very ambitious and creative yet extremely disappointed, as was everyone in my class when they heard my grade.

There is nothing left to do but this appeals application now.”

Stephen’s work can be seen here:
Stephen Sidlo Photography
His Blog
Page at Source
Portfolio

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