Photography Students BOP ‘til they Drop!

Boomsatsuma students attend Bristol's very own Books on Photography festival, affectionately known as ‘BOP’.

BOP is the annual photobook festival organised by the internationally renowned Martin Parr Foundation and Royal Photographic Society (RPS). Every year, it brings together a wide-ranging group of photobook publishers, booksellers and photographers from across Europe.

The annual festival was held at Bristol's creative quarter, at Paintworks, where the Martin Parr and RPS galleries are based. It is an important event for the West Country’s photography community, bringing together photobook publishers and artists and putting on exhibitions, book signings and events. Students from boomsatsuma’s prestigious Photography and Print degree, as well as the College Photography Collective, exhibited their work and also helped run the event.

Leading up to BOP, degree students took part in a week-long masterclass with renowned photographer, Chris Hoare. Five students were then selected from the cohort and given the opportunity to develop and print their work with Photographique, one of the UK’s foremost independent photographic labs. These photos were then exhibited and put on sale at BOP with two students, MJ Price and Missy MacDonald, successfully selling prints.

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Sam Fordham, boomsatsuma’s award winning Head of Photography, was proud of the work students had created and the opportunities presented by the festival:

"BOP proved itself - once again - to be a perfect opportunity for our students to gain experience of working with professional photographers and engaging with the publishing industry. Working with photographer Chris Hoare, and exhibiting their work to an international audience at the festival was an invaluable experience, not only in how to fulfil a photographic brief, but also, in how to showcase and sell their work, which they approached very confidently."

For College students, BOP was a wonderful first insight into the world of professional photography and publishing. Matthew Broadhead, who runs the College’s Photography Collective, is very pleased with what his students have learnt:

"BOP was a valuable experience for our students to develop their skills, as they set out on their career path in photography. As well as seeing their work printed in photo books - many for the first time - they also learnt about how to use InDesign, display images, exhibit and experienced how photography festivals operate. It was a hectic few days at the festival but the students loved it."