Personal Statement:Photography 1

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

Visual communication surrounds us. Images are a huge part of today's world and have great potential to document the factual or express the imaginary. They can stimulate thought and challenge opinion. In a world where we are becoming increasingly disconnected from each other and ourselves, I strongly believe it is the arts that help us reconnect. No other language is as powerful, nor can speak to so many different people.

As a child I let my imagination run away and I was always keen to convey my ideas and feelings through images. Now, art allows me to communicate things that I would not be able, or willing, to put into words. For years I have had a fixation with making a connection with the people around me and photography allows me to do that. It also satiates my craving to create. I feel that my work stems from my curiosity about human nature and years of struggle with my own identity and place in the world. I aim to expose people's real as well as constructed selves, the underlying emotions and basic drives behind their behaviour. I have done this through portraiture, street, fashion, as well as live and promotional band photography.

How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?

For a long time, photography was an unexplored territory for me. I used to wonder what makes some of the photographs I came across so beautiful, communicative and successful. This led me to taking up the opportunity to study the subject at A-Levels. I enjoy the course tremendously as it gives me the time and space to explore a variety of ideas, themes and techniques as well as learn about key figures in photography's history. A great complimentary course is my A-Level in History of Art and Visual Culture, in which we explore other artists' work, who, through their innovation, helped shape the world of art. In my second year, we have been exploring artists who used photography as a means of documenting their work.

What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

In my leisure time, I have taught myself the technical side of photography, which gave me the tools to execute my ideas more effectively. In the summer I took up an internship with fashion photographer Hugh O'Malley, which taught me a lot about photography as a profession, operating within a studio and the importance of successful communication with the people you work with. I keep track of my own creative and technical development through a photography blog I've set up. It also allows me to reflect on the successfulness of my ideas and share my thoughts on various photographers whose work I find particularly interesting, moving or inspiring, such as Richard Avedon's ability to capture the emotions of his subjects or the tender exploration of distance and loss in Bill Henson's work.

I believe that there is a lot to be learned from others. I want to be in a creative environment surrounded by like-minded people as it stimulates my mind and pushes me further. I'm interested in developing my technical knowledge as well as learning about the practices and place of photographers within the creative industry. I want to have the space and resources to develop and progress as a photographer and as a person - therefore I believe that studying photography at university would be very fulfilling. I am keen to build on the skills, experience and knowledge I have already gained and believe that my commitment, enthusiasm and drive will equip me for success in studying at this level.

How personal statements have changed?

The current personal statement format, with three 'scaffolding' questions, was introduced by Ucas in September 2025. This personal statement was submitted before then, using the old essay-style format. It has been carefully edited into the three-question format, with all of the original wording kept.

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