Year One

My name is Annie (Annabel) and I've just started a BA in Fine Art Photography at Camberwell College of Arts (UAL). With this blog I plan to write about artists and works that inform my work, new processes I try and how my work develops throughout the course.

I studied Fashion Communications on my art foundation course at Central Saint Martins, and instead of being accepted into the BA of that pathway, which I applied for, my tutors recommended I study photography. It felt like too much of a risk to take a year out and try again, and I quite like the idea of studying fine art, so I followed their advice and came here. Camberwell couldn't be more different to CSM. It's a total culture shock to start the year with a few lectures and workshops and laid back building up, I still feel very much like a first year, and it's not overwhelming. At times I feel like I'm giving myself more work by doing little write ups for exhibitions I've visited and creating a blog, but these things will help to pull all aspects of my practice together and keep me focussed.

I'm interested in the male gaze, the female gaze, the nude figure - and all the taboos and politics around it, abstracting perspective and sense of space in visual imagery. I want to develop more of a continual practice that I can immerse myself in rather than kind of dipping in and out of different things. It's not easy to let go and be 'an artist'. There's always that lingering worry that I won't be able to support myself via my creative work. The next three years though, are an opportunity to get to the point where my practice can lead to a sustainable income. As a student you really have nothing to worry about, except £40,000 of debt that you will probably never really pay back, so it's a good time to experiment.

xox