New photographic centre for Falmouth (From This is The West Country)

New photographic centre for Falmouth

4:30pm Sunday 1st April 2007 in Cornwall By Stephen Ivall

Work is well underway on a £7 million state of the art photography centre at University College Falmouth, Tremough campus.

The centre, which will be completed in July of this year, will support the introduction of a range of new photography degree courses at Falmouth, cementing its position as one of the top providers of photographic education in the UK.

Once completed it will be a centrepiece of the new £70 million Combined Universities in Cornwall campus shared with the University of Exeter and complementing UCF's other campus in Falmouth.

The two-storey centre has been designed following consultation with the industry and will include a huge expansion in digital and photographic facilities.

From September students will be able to study new BA degree courses in Press Photography and Marine and Natural History at Falmouth, and a new MA in Professional Photography is also being introduced. All are recruiting now.

Course Leader Dave Matthews said: "Falmouth has taught photography for almost 20 years and this huge investment in new facilities and courses means we will be able to offer a combination of broad-based and specialist degrees with access to some of the best image making facilities in the country."

He added: "These developments are in response to the continued popularity of studying photography at Falmouth."

The new courses will add to Falmouth's existing BA and MA photography degrees, and will strengthen learning related to applied and work related photography in response to growing demand from students and the industry.

The centre combines traditional wet photography with the latest in digital imaging and printing equipment.

The ground floor will include four large, double-height studios, two smaller studios, spacious new black and white darkrooms, print finishing room and a print service facility with the very latest equipment including large format inkjet and light jet colour managed printers.

Upstairs there will be large modern digital photographic workshops with colour managed digital work stations, and tutorial rooms.

The Photography Centre will adjoin UCF's Media Centre, which includes an industry standard newsroom.

To support the new press photography course the centre will also include an electronic picture desk facility where students will learn about picture editing, transmission of images and the production of work for local, national and international publications.

Marine and Natural History photography students will have use of a dedicated research lab for photomicrography, and an area to store specimens for long-term projects like time-lapse photography.

Dave added: "Geographically, Cornwall is one of the best places in the country for marine and natural history photography and the new Marine and Natural History degree will include our unique provision for underwater photography which we have developed over the past 15 years.

"Students will develop a thorough grounding in scientific principles covering eco-systems, habitats and species so we are marrying science and art to produce well-rounded wildlife photographers.

Similarly, our press photography students will study current affairs, morals and ethical practice to ensure that they can operate in the challenging world of editorial and press photography."

In the last five years Falmouth students have won more than 20 awards, including the 2006 Observer Hodge Award for Olympus Digital Photographer of the Year, won by third year BA student Monica Stromdaahl for her portraits of the residents of a rundown residential hotel in Brooklyn, New York.

Falmouth student Torquil Benett was one of three finalists in last year's Ilford Photo Student of the Year Competition, and former student Spencer Murphy was highly commended in last December's Creative Review.