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Big Book Crit, 2018

The annual Big Book Crit is an event in partnership with the Graeme Robertson TrustIDM & DMA. It helps aspiring creatives take their first steps in the creative sector and receive advice on their work. Various Big Book Crit’s have been held throughout April in London, Bristol and Edinburgh. As Tapestry’s Head of Photography I was invited along to participate in the final event, held in Norwich on Thursday 26th April. It was hosted by Norwich School of Art, which is where I graduated with a degree in painting in 1997. I moved to London shortly after and have been now been shooting professionally for almost twenty years.  As an alumni it was nice to be able to come back and help out.

 

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Attendees had the opportunity to have their portfolios critiqued by some of the country’s leading Creative Directors and Senior Creatives who were on hand to give feedback on their work and advice on getting a start in the creative industry. Billed as ‘speed dating for creatives’, students had 10 minutes with each of their chosen experts to talk through one of their projects with 5 minutes feedback, punctuated by a whistle to keep everyone moving on in a timely fashion!

 

 

I was able to speak with a variety of talented student photographers who are in the final weeks of their degrees, a stressful time for many but a great time to be able to get this kind of industry feedback and contact.. There was certainly some inspiring work and it was really enjoyable giving constructive feedback and advice to people just starting out. I remember being in their shoes and not knowing what lay ahead after graduation, hopefully they are a little more prepared for life after art school and speaking to so many photographers and creative directors.

 

 

The evening concluded with networking drinks, where I caught up with a number of creative directors and professional photographers, all in all a fun, inspiring evening, thanks to Cordell Burke, at Big Dog for organising.