|
Welcome to the Graduate
Web Site for past students, staff and friends of
Photography and Film Production and Cinematography Courses
at Salisbury.
It is
often said that one of the special things about studying within the
community at Salisbury is the unique combination of professionalism
and a supportive and friendly atmosphere. Friendships made while
studying often last a lifetime and the Department of Photography and
Film at Salisbury College of Art and later Wiltshire College had a tradition of not only looking after students
while they were studying but in keeping in touch in the years beyond.
Some of you may remember the ‘Old Students Association’ with its famous
‘Pure Nostalgia’ magazine which ran for nearly ten years through the
1980s, keeping up to date with ex-students and staff. These have been scanned and
are available via a link on the Home page.
In 2021 there were many changes at the Wiltshire College building in
Southampton road. The Art College built in 1974 and in which the
Department flourished was demolished. The Film Production
and Cinematography course moved successfully to a new building but sadly the photography course closed.
The
last group of photography degree students graduated in 2023, bringing
to a close 67 years of education for professional photographers in the
city.
Happily the
great spirit of the Department lives on
and will be unashamedly evident within this web site which
aims to form a record of the many hundreds of young people who spent some of
their most important years at Salisbury.
Class lists, available via the Home page, have been
carefully researched with the help of past students, by using archive material and are a matter of public
record. If you spot
any errors or omissions please let us know, some of the sheets relating to
early classes are more than a little faded!!
A few facts and figures:
Professional courses in Photography and Film started in 1956 as
part-time study, primarily to meet demand from the Ministry of Defence
establishments on Salisbury Plain. The new specialist lecturer appointed
to run the course was Derek Stirling who led the Department for 34 years
until taking over as College Principal just before his retirement in
1992.
Full-time courses began in 1960 and expanded steadily in the following
decades.
Until
the late 1970s, examinations were externally set. Examinations from the City and Guilds
of London Institute and Institute of Incorporated Photographers (now the
BIPP) were undertaken with the Salisbury College Diploma,
moderated by external examiners, at the end of year three.
A
fundamental change in assessment methods throughout further education
followed and resulted in new courses from the Design and Art Technicians
Council (DATEC) later to become the Business and Technician
Education Council (BTEC).
From 1978 Salisbury offered the BTEC Higher National
Diploma after the first two years of study and introduced the Professional Qualifying Examination from
the BIPP at the end of year 3. The Salisbury College Diploma in
Professional Photography continued to be listed on the certificate for
several years.
In 1993 the course offered a honours degree award with the first group
graduating in 1994. This was a one-year year 'HND top-up' offered
in partnership with The Southampton Institute of Higher Education and
Nottingham Trent University who conferred the award. The PQE continued to be offered.
In 1999, 30 students graduated with a BA (Hons) Degree in Photography,
Film and TV and attended a ceremony in the
Cathedral. This is now an annual event. In 2006 the guest of honour was
the famous landscape photographer and Salisbury alumnus, Charlie Waite.
For many years, one course provided the opportunity to specialise in
either photography or film making. Gradually each specialism developed
its own identity and in 2009 two distinct programmes were offered,
a BA (Hons) Photography and BA (Hons) Film Production &
Cinematography. Both worked closely together within a common framework which
was operated in
partnership with Bournemouth University.
Look
through the early class lists and you will see that there were few girls
studying this subject, by the mid-1990s the gender balance amongst first
years was almost equal.
The Department began life as the School of Photography at
Salisbury College of Art. Since then it has been named (listed in more
or less in the right order) as:
The School of Photography. (Salisbury College of Art)
The Department of Photography, Film & Television (Salisbury College of
Art & Design)
The Division of Professional Communications (Salisbury College)
The Department of Visual and Performance Arts (Salisbury College)
The School of Photography, Film & TV and Fashion (Salisbury College)
The Faculty of Creative Industries (Salisbury College)
The Curriculum area of Creative Industries, Business Management and
Community (Wiltshire College).
Bournemouth University Partner Framework (Wiltshire College).
………indications of just some of the changes over the years.
This web site was put together by myself and Karel Bechler and although
we are no longer at the College we are endeavouring to keep
this record going!
We hope you have enjoyed your visit and will call again soon.
Please
let us have a current email address so we can keep you updated with any
changes to the web site or alumni news. Email to ianrsmith@aol.com
For those who use
social media, there is a Facebook page - Salisbury Photo-Graduates
dedicated (more or
less) to Salisbury photo history!!
In 2021, a book about the Department 'The Right Exposure' was published
and can be ordered from the Blurb bookstore, and from all good
bookshops!
Very best wishes,
Ian R Smith & Karel Bechler
Updated August 2023.
|
