National Photography Symposium open for business

Why is anything Rankin put's his name too good? Because he can afford to be made good and pays a team of people to do so. Mere mortals just starting out actually have to think 24/7 about how to launch ourselves, how to look and set us apart from the rest. Photography education in the UK is bigger than ever before and yet it is still the same images year in year out. I may not be coherent with my photography, but there is a world out there and moods change in a second so do my influences. As does our photography I always try to push myself to do something new. London we need something thats not signed by Rankin or Dazed. But who has the money to step on up and change this. I know I would love to.

"Photography education in the UK is bigger than ever before"

In technical F.E. college courses and some camera clubs, perhaps. But one might have hoped that things would have moved on since the 1970s. There is no sustained education in 'photographic seeing' and creative project photography before A-level, and then only in small specialist courses. If a student then wants to go on to study the culture and history of photography at degree level there are no courses in the UK, and only two or three options at Masters level.

Please note that the symposium was the University of Bolton in partnership with Redeye and Chethams Library

Also if I am not mistaken Francis Hodgson's comment was that England

( not London) did not have a dedicated National Museum of Photography like other countrys and as far as I am aware New York is not a capital city.

Ian Beesley

Course leader MA photography

University of Bolton