As part of our commitment to giving students work experience while they study, photojournalists from London College of Communication worked on a brief from the Printing Charity – aiming to tell new stories about the past, present and future of print.
The Printing Charity is the only dedicated national charity helping people of all ages in the printing, publishing, packaging and graphic arts sectors. Their welfare and education programmes support over 1,200 people each year.
The Printing Charity wanted to get an insight in to what young people think of print today, and came to LCC to ask second and third year students from BA (Hons) Photojournalism & Documentary Photography to shoot images that answered the questions “what does print mean to you?”
Marcin Nowak
Neil Lovell, the Print Charity CEO, said “We wanted this project to give students a live brief that would help them to build their portfolios and also allow us to gain an insight to what print means to a younger generation.
“We know that, in one way or another, print touches our lives every day. It could be a magazine, coffee cup, food wrapper, poster, book, parcel or some other form of packaging. Print in its many forms is ubiquitous.
“What we found from the students’ ideas wasn’t a focus on these tangible products but instead a connection to the human elements of printmaking and a respect for traditional skills and community collaboration. It was a response we had not expected when there are so many examples of print around us. The final work is an eclectic mix with a human thread.”
Baldassare Sciacca
Students focused particularly on the craft of print and production. They found stories of how print is still alive in communities through print collectives and handmade zines, through to screen printing and traditional photo processing.
Marcin Nowak, BA (Hons) Photojournalism & Documentary Photography student, said that “Despite digitalisation, younger generations want to explore the traditional ways of photo-print.”
-
- Carola Cappellari, INFANCY
-
- Carola Cappellari, CHILDHOOD
-
- Carola Cappellari, YOUTH
-
- Carola Cappellari, OLD AGE
-
- Carola Cappellari, OLD AGE
Reflecting on his photographs, BA (Hons) Photojournalism & Documentary Photography student Baldassare Sciacca said: “I found it fascinating to see a strong connection between old machines and future generations.”
The daily importance of print throughout people’s lives came through in Carola Cappellari’s images. She said: “The project allowed me to consider the printed material I am surrounded by on a daily basis and understand its relevance in my life and for others around me.”
Tom Barlow
Industry projects help students develop new skills that will be important for their careers. Repeated presentations to the Printing Charity helped them practise describing their ideas, responding to feedback and working to a client’s requirements.
Student photographer Tom Barlow said: “This was the first time working with a photographic client. It taught me about the importance of communication with those I am working for, as well as sticking to a brief.”
Images from 8 students were chosen, with Claudia Greco, Max Cosse, Tom Walton and Sebastian Garraway also contributing.
Claudia Greco
Max Cosse
Tom Walton
Sebastian Garray
Find out more about the collaboration on the Printing Charity’s blog post.
- Find out more about LCC industry projects
- Learn about LCC’s BA (Hons) Photojournalism & Documentary Photography course
- See more news from LCC on Twitter