China

Embarking on a unique Masters of Arts: On Photography

Embarking on the Masters of Arts: On Photography in China was a transformative opportunity to revolutionise my skills in adapting to online platforms and current trends. The program’s focus on image and video for the web, web design, and multimedia journalism opened up new horizons for me.

This prestigious program, a collaborative effort between the University of Bolton and the University of Dalian – College of Image Arts 影像艺术学院, facilitated by the esteemed British Council and generously sponsored by Suzuki Tokyo, aimed to revolutionise the craft of photography by equipping practitioners with the necessary skills to adapt to the evolving trends of the beginning of this digital age.

Adjusting to the cultural contrast and language barrier on my regular daily life basis was challenging at first, but I quickly adapted through gestures and interactions until I started to have private Chinese lessons. The academic program was rigorous, divided into three intensive terms, It placed particular emphasis on the mastery of image and video concepts for online platforms, web design incorporating Java and HTML programming adaptation for online media players, and the burgeoning domain of multimedia journalism. I delved into workshops and practical exercises, mastering Adobe products, image and video editing tools, but most of all, an immense knowledge on how to build wider thinking and approaching photography and videography towards social, cultural and economic angles.

A person sitting on a street while a barber is trimming their hair, symbolising the importance of community interaction and cultural exchange. — The importance I place on community interaction while living in a completely different culture is to make the experience for both myself and others an opportunity to interact and exchange different perspectives, such as the encounter with a street barber who trimmed my hair.

I had unlocked a remarkable opportunity, one that required me to transcend my limits and showcase my professional aptitude through several “Key Research Questions”, which were the conceptual basis of our projects to be applied in our master’s thesis:”Image Economies”; “Style, Power and International Politics”; “Social Responsibility”; “Citizen Journalist and the Participatory Photographer”; “Photographic Culture”; “Imagined Geographies”; “The Place of the Single Image in Contemporary Photojournalism”; “Local vs Visitor: fairly traded photography, truth and ethics” to name some of them.

Overall, the Masters of Arts program in China provided an immersive and comprehensive learning experience that propelled my skills and understanding of the world of media and the place of photography in this new digital era. It was an opportunity to explore China, absorb its diverse culture, make new and amazing friends and explore some of its amazing cities and places.