Check out This Video of the BTEC L3 Photography Exhibition Filmed and Edited by Elijah Cottingham
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the first permanent photograph. 2026 is exactly 200 years since the French amateur inventor – Nicéphore Niépce, made the first lens-based likeness, the first lasting grainy scene, which happened to be the view from his window. It was made on metal and took eight hours to expose.
Like an unassuming scientific alchemist, he magically conjured up a golden cultural moment in our quest to record and understand the world around us. Despite its recent convergence with the world of ‘high tech’, photography is still essentially about communicating creative ideas, eloquently through the capture of light and time.
With 200 years of photographic history behind us though, it becomes increasingly difficult for photographers to surprise us with ‘effective novelty’ as creativity is sometimes defined.
This year’s cohort has had its share of ups and downs. We recently had a trip to Derbyshire, where we climbed Thorpe Cloud, as well as completing a 10-mile hike to Thor’s Cave. Last year we also represented the college in the Lessons from Auschwitz program. In January we exhibited our Diversity project as part of our Culture Day.
This was about exploring and conveying positivity and acceptance within themes of diversity, focusing on areas such as age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, hair colour, disability, etc. We feel that it is very important to celebrate individuality and personal expression within our work. To succeed together, we believe we need to value what makes us different.
In March last year we also managed to exhibit our positive-image portraits of Dudley’s Refugees in The Upper Waiting Hall of The House of Commons, as well as making some strong street photography in the capital. We also continued our conservation photography partnership with Dudley Zoo, which next year will become our biggest collaboration yet, as we mark the zoo’s 90th anniversary, with a wider visual and oral history, heritage project.
This cohort are clearly a creative bunch; they have had exhibitions and won competitions, even nationally, with our Association of Colleges exhibition and globally, with our recent World Skills accolade. We have continued to build close relationships with local universities too, many of whom we visited for workshops, or they visited us. Half of our young people are heading for undergraduate study, many locally, but some further afield. Others are seeking creative employment.
We were proud to welcome back Ellie Avison of the class of 2022, this year, a graduate of University of the Arts, London (one of the top universities in the world for art and photography) who during her teacher training with us, has helped transform this academic year. In the end, the class of 2026 have solved problems and come together to make this yearbook, showcasing their talents and aspirations.
We wish them luck, as they leave us to make their mark and embark on the next chapter of their lives; but let’s take a moment to reflect on their journeys together with us. I have learnt, that at critical moments in time, you can significantly raise the aspirations of young people, sometimes, simply by suggesting that they can do something bigger or better or more ambitious than what they thought was possible or what they felt they could achieve.
We hope you find our students’ work interesting, thought-provoking, authentic and relevant, especially in this image-saturated age of instant communication and deep fake, AI digital trickery. Despite the importance of our trips, it’s not always necessarily to go far, no need to canoe down the Amazon to create great photography. The trick it seems to me is to retain a sense of wonder about the world around us. We all take pictures now, but how many of us really look? Really, see?
As the seminal contemporary photographer of our time, the recently departed Martin Parr, so astutely pointed out, why are many of us drawn to photographic cliches, subjects that rarely change? Why not instead, as we did with our Show Me A Secret project, turn your attention to the high street, the view from the bus or the interior of your local shop? Thanks to the whole team, including Ellie and Chris!
Each year, our photography and graphics students work with Dudley Zoo on a variety of exciting projects aimed at raising awareness of animal welfare and conservation.
This focus of this year’s project was to produce posters about each species of animal which interested them, with many students making regular trips to the zoo to photograph the animals and learn more about them and their eating habits.
Not only is this a good chance to put their knowledge of camera techniques to the test (as animals can be notoriously difficult to photograph) , it’s also a great opportunity to get closer to wildlife in a way that can’t be achieved simply by watching nature documentaries online or on TV.
Below is a gallery of some of our students’ amazing images – we hope you enjoy.
Next year is the 200th anniversary of the first photograph. Despite its recent convergence with the world of ‘high tech’, photography is still essentially about communicating creative ideas eloquently through the capture of light and time. However, with 200 years of photographic history behind us, it becomes increasingly difficult for photographers to surprise us with ‘effective novelty’, as creativity is sometimes defined as.
This year’s large second year cohort has had its share of ups and downs. Last year they had a trip to Ilam in Derbyshire where we climbed Thorpe Cloud and Bunster Hill, as well completing a 10-mile hike to Thor’s Cave. Many also travelled with me to Poland, where we visited Krakow, the Salt Mine and Auschwitz.
Two students represented the college in the Lessons from Auschwitz program, presenting their findings to 400 people at this year’s Dudley Holocaust Memorial event, marking 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz.
In March, we managed to exhibit our positive-image portraits of Dudley’s Refugees in The Upper Waiting Hall of The House of Commons. We were pleased to have exhibited at such a prestigious venue, to reach an influential, wider audience and shine a positive light on the plight of all Refugees. We feel this project is more important than ever now, in order to promote a sense of hope, unity and togetherness.
In addition, current second year students have made a yearbook and a book exploring and conveying positivity and acceptance within themes of diversity, individualism and togetherness, focusing on areas such as age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, hair colour, disability, etc. Again, first years have had their zoo project exhibited at Dudley Zoo. We are grateful also to Dudley Rotary Club for generously funding our ‘Wonderful Water Competition.’
We have continued to build close relationships with local universities too, many of whom we visited for workshops, or they visited us. Thanks to Hereford College of Arts for awarding this year’s ‘One to Watch’ awards. Over half of our young people are heading for university, many locally but some as far as Falmouth, with one even studying marine photography there!
We were proud to welcome back Megan Jeffries of the class of 2021, a graduate of Falmouth University, who has worked closely with us in her transition from student to lecturer. In the end, the class of 2025 have solved problems and come together to showcase their creative talents here. Thanks to our wonderful technician – Chris Davies for making this online exhibition possible!
Each year, our photography and graphics students work with Dudley Zoo on a variety of exciting projects aimed at raising awareness of animal welfare and conservation.
This focus of this year’s project was carnivores, with many students making regular trips to the zoo to photograph the animals and learn more about them and their eating habits. Not only is this a good chance to put their knowledge of camera techniques to the test (as animals can be notoriously difficult to photograph) , it’s also a great opportunity to get closer to wildlife in a way that can’t be achieved simply by watching nature documentaries online or on TV.
Below is a gallery of some of our students’ amazing images – we hope you enjoy.
On Monday 13th March 2024, a combination of Photography, Art, Graphic Design, Production Arts, Music and Tourism students, along with the members of staff and the Students Union, took on the challenge of climbing Scafell Pike, despite challenging weather conditions.
Accompanying the group on the day was former Dudley Mayor Steve Waltho. As an experienced climber, he helped the group of 30 reach 1,500 ft from the foot of the mountain.
As the weather took a turn for the worst, achieving this height was even more impressive and a great reflection of the resolve and enthusiasm of our staff and students.
The hike was in support of the College’s nominated charities, Ronnie & Friends and Black Country Mental Health, for which students and staff raised an incredible £1,500 with photography student, Louis Simcox, raising more than £300 through his own efforts.
At last year’s Dudley Holocaust Memorial event, we were commissioned by Lord Ian Austin to explore the life stories of the current refugees and migrants who have sought sanctuary and safety in our community of Dudley.
This project, which included photographs, video interviews and paintings, culminated in an exhibition at Dudley Archives in February this year which celebrated the resilience, diversity, inclusion, togetherness and community of our local refugees.
Dudley College Photography students worked with local art photographer, Anand Chhabra, to produce a compelling set of images, while our technician/artist, Chris Davies, made some wonderful paintings to complement the students’ work.
Our TV and film students also conducted interviews with the refugees featured in our exhibition to explore their individual stories and investigate more deeply their sense of feeling supported and welcomed by the community of Dudley.
Thanks to the Dudley Archives, we also researched some fascinating historical refugees who had made Dudley their home in the past and contributed to society in often very interesting cultural, artistic and scientific ways.
Thanks to all the wonderful people and especially to the refugees who worked with us on the project, many of whom are English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students here at Dudley College. It was an amazing and often humbling experience to meet people from Ukraine, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Palestine, Uganda and lots of other places and learn more about their culture, experiences and traditions.
The opening night of our exhibition at Dudley Archives in February was a huge success, with more than 100 visitors who came to see the work on display, talk to the refugees and watch the interviews conducted by our students. It was also featured in local newspaper, the Express and Star.
Chris Davies’ portrait of one particular refugee, Mansoor, was also featured in this year’s highly-acclaimed RBSA Portrait Prize exhibition, which was on show at the society’s gallery in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, recently.
Phil Brooks, photography course tutor Maddison Wellsbury, 2nd year photography student Miah Bryan, 2nd year photography student
Watch the Refugee Project film created by media students at Dudley College of Technology
Watch this fantastic video of our Photography exhibition created by our 2nd year students, Josh Harper and Jesse Jewkes
Here in Dudley, our students’ journey towards professional image-making has seen them seeking to find their own creative voice, whilst building meaning into their photography, growing in confidence, becoming a supportive community, learning to articulate their work as well as dealing with responses to their work, all whilst maintaining enthusiasm, inspiration, and motivation.
We have sought to promote kindness, community, and diversity. We have continued to strengthen our close relationship with Dudley Zoo, Dudley’s Gentleman’s Songsters and Dudley Remembers and Dudley Holocaust Memorial Day. One of our students is now Diversity and Inclusion rep for the whole college.
As well as exhibiting our diversity project at Dudley Town Hall last October, we have recently had the pleasure of working with local refugees from all round the world, who have made Dudley their home. It has become a local yet international collaboration. This has been our biggest, most important project to date – The Dudley Refugee Project – It was a year in the making – commissioned by Lord Ian Austin – featuring many of our ESOL students and other refugees, including a number from Ukraine.
Our recent exhibition at The Dudley Archives was attended The Mayor of Dudley. This work exposure involved students working alongside art photographer Anand Chhabra, who won the Mayor’s Civic Award for art last year, for his work with us, which involved a collaboration with Historic England, celebrating High Street Heroes, for our national touring exhibition, featured in the Guardian newspaper.
This year, two students worked in their own time, photographing with Dudley Caribbean and Friends Association, helping them with their own photography and raising awareness of the social welfare needs of the elderly African Caribbean community in Dudley.
During the course, we have raised money for The Royal British Legion, Children in Need and most notably for Ronnie and Friends, for whom we helped raise over £22,000 towards building a baby bereavement room at Russel’s Hall Hospital in Dudley, by abseiling off the college and climbing the highest mountain in England, in winter.
Frequently these students demonstrate their drive and aspiration by staying late and are often still working when the evening class arrive and sometime even help teach them. From our shared induction in the sports hall, on day one, onwards, we try to break barriers between curriculum areas and levels. We have visiting speakers most weeks, often old students coming in, to give back and inspire.
We aim to enable a supportive, intrinsically motivated community. My students don’t need commendations or stickers; they work through their lunch or volunteer to photograph college events at weekends. They feel they are working, not just for their own skill-development, personal experience or portfolio-building but often for the greater good.
