Emilia Harris-Jones

Photography

Why did you choose to study Photography A Level at Blue Coat?

I went to Blue Coat School and I stayed on in Sixth Form because it’s a very good school, students achieve high grades here and it is in a great location in the centre of Oldham. As well as my friends from lower school who stayed on at Sixth Form, I have made lots of new friends from other schools who joined our Sixth Form. My Form tutor in lower school was a photography teacher, and I was encouraged to take Photography a A Level. I’m planning to be a journalist, and I knew a photography A Level along with my other A Level subjects was a good choice.  I’m so glad I chose Photography; it has been enjoyable and rewarding.

What do you want to do in the future and how will you use your photography A Level?

I want to study journalism and be a journalist or reporter. For work shadowing in Year 12 I shadowed a journalist which I really enjoyed. The trend in journalism is now fast paced with ‘TikTok’ style news which makes this is an exciting time to enter this field of work. I have taken A Levels in Media and Sociology along with my Photography. All three subjects tie in together and are relevant to journalism.

What is the Photography A Level Course like?

Photography has lots of coursework as well as a 15-hour exam. The teachers are great and class sizes are small, so you get a lot of individual attention and support. The Photography teacher looks at your progress every day and gives personalised feedback. The students on the course also help each other, use each other as models for photo sessions and provide important feedback. I had the opportunity to go to Blackpool on a school trip to take photos of the illuminations using special lenses. It was a fantastic experience, and I learned a lot about the effect of light reflection. We went to Huddersfield University to use a dark room and used old style non digital cameras to understand how they worked. My friend and I entered the school ‘Spooky Photography Competition’ at Halloween. We were lucky enough to get access to the school basement where students are not normally allowed. It has a very dark spooky atmosphere, and we were able to take photos posing as ghosts down there. I’m pleased to say we won the competition! Doing a creative subject means that exams are over before the main exam season starts but you must keep up to date with coursework throughout the year.