The Photobook

from RMIT VE Photography + Digital Imaging 2022 Catalogue

Acknowledgements

For the past six years, students of the RMIT Diploma of Photography and Digital Imaging have produced photojournalism books in collaboration with students from the Associate Degree in Professional Writing and Editing (PWE). It gives students an exciting opportunity to work as a cross-disciplinary team. Each photography student creates a narrative photo essay in the style of the 1950s Life magazine. With support and instruction from photography teachers Rob Gale and Martin Reftel, students take on the roles of traditional photojournalists, following their subjects, making images as unbiased observers, and creating a story from what they have documented.

‘The collaborative experience for the photography students gives them insight into both the methodology and the approach taken by writers and editors. It complements and refines the learning that takes place within the construction and development of long-form narrative projects. This project provides the real-world experience of self-publishing.’

ROBERT GALE DIPLOMA OF PHOTOGRAPHY + DIGITAL IMAGING TEACHER

Over three months, the students produce a self-published photobook. This process includes seeking out their subject, developing a narrative storyline as it unfolds, and making relevant image selections to convey their story. They also designed their books, drafting a written introduction and related captions. Bringing everything together, the students prepared print-ready files for testing through to their final book. In conjunction with PWE teacher Mel Cranbourne, the editing students helped to refine the project in various ways, assisting photographers with narrative development and writing as required, and undertaking copyediting and proofreading.

The Photobook

This year, continuing last year’s successful collaboration, some of the students were able to work on projects requested by RMIT’s marketing department. These projects documented a wide variety of student experiences at RMIT. Individual images from the students’ books have been used and will continue to be used by RMIT for promotional purposes. In return, the marketing department has offered financial support to the students’ end-of-year exhibition and catalogue production.

‘The Photobook gives the students a unique opportunity to grow, not only in their photographic skills, but also their confidence to be able to take on realworld challenges and get the job done. Collaborating with editors from the Associate Degree in Professional Writing and Editing, students learn that they can take on and manage a complex task, to bring what they set out to do to successful completion – from an idea to a printed book in a single semester.