About the Module

Professional Practice is something that I consider to be very important for a creative path. In photography the professional practice will help to make me as a brand, 'Suzi-Rae Photography' go further.  Community practice helps me to connect with the people around me and to help get myself as a brand heard and seen. And bringing both the community practice and professional practice together will give me the skills to make an up and coming business of photography.

Last year, (second year) I completed a module called 'Professional Practice' in which we created a Practitioners Package including, a website, CV, statement, cover letter, images, headed paper, business cards and postcards to help have as a package ready to show to clients. This year this module expands on this and adds to what I have, to make it even more professional and ready for the world after university.

Within this module I will use this blog as a Critical Journal along with a Sketchbook to show all evidential work relating to the tasks and photographers I look at.  I will also be showing tasks completed in class along with critical responses as to how they go, and many other topics that are extremely useful and relevant to professional practice and will help me to improve my knowledge for my brand. I will also be recording the process of entering photography competitions and producing a live brief that I will work on throughout this module and show all of the process and steps along the way. Accompanying my critical journal will be my portfolio with all my up-dated images and all other professional material, this will be what I would show to a client.  It will have all that was in my Practitioners Package and more added from this year's work. A detailed critical evaluation will end my module project.

The Aims of this module are to give myself the knowledge needed to examine the complicated realities of working towards a live brief, including the briefing process, development, time management, proofing, and delivery.  I will also examine areas of practice relevant to the professional photographer, including, assisting, starting a business, copyright, contract law, marketing, commissions, health and safety and portfolio design. All this will then show in a live brief that I will undertake.  The aim is to prepare my understanding to the management of contemporary photographic practice.

For me to be able to achieve a good grade for this assignment I have to consider the learning outcomes for the project that I will undertake.  These will have to be in my mind throughout each task that I do and then I can make sure I can tick them off when completed. Here are the learning objectives below:

Learning Objectives
1. Examine and critically reflect upon practice relevant to the professional photographer.
2. Identify and propose a live brief to undertake or a national competition to enter.
3. Develop visual research around an agreed brief / competition submission.
4. Self-manage, demonstrate and self reflect upon the delivery of the agreed brief / competition submission.

I have many ideas for a live brief and know of competitions to enter, and will research more that I can consider. But overall there is A LOT that can help me in preparation for entering the workplace on graduation.