This
year Steambox plays host to graduates of photography who have come through the
level 6 Higher National Diploma programme in St Kevins College of Further
Education, Dublin. This is only the fifth year of the stand-alone level 6 course
and the exhibition itself represents the diversity, energy and uniqueness that
the college provides.
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| c. Kevin Buckley |
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| c. Josef Kovac |
Developing
photographic skills are, of course, a crucial element of any photographic
course, at any level. Yet, skills alone are simply not enough in the
contemporary photographic landscape. The process we set in place in St Kevin’s
College encourages students to find a photographic personality – a vision which
is a pure expression of the individual’s own visual experience of the world
around us, an expression of their own creative sensibilities and a reflection
of their own technical strengths and abilities. At the start of each
college year, students propose an idea, or a concept, which will be developed
photographically throughout the year. There is a necessity, within this
process, of visual connection to a subject or theme. Students find their own topic,
their own vision and to try to translate these effectively. Together with their
tutors, students explore traditional and contemporary approaches to given
themes and subject matter and, further, find an aesthetic and conceptual
solution to suit the individuals own subject. My role has been to help
students find their subject, their vision and translate it effectively. The
process is supported on an on-going basis by a series of workshops and further
refined through a succession of critical reviews, with the
involvement of all tutors and peers. At these critical reviews we have
established a type of synergy between tutors and students which is part of the
successes of this year’s exhibition.
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| c. Aisling McCurtin |
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| c. Carl Byrne |
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| c. Tony Byrne |
The work exhibited will reflect the
broad demographics within the college itself. The show overall spans the
spectrum of the commercial world to the personal world – each with its own
approach and style, strengths and skills. The exhibition is testament to the
students themselves, to the investment they have made in their own work
throughout the year and the efforts they have made to produce what is the
largest and finest St Kevin’s College Graduate exhibition to date.
Martin Cregg
Year 2 Tutor
