Announcing a new teaching collaboration

I’m proud to be part of a new teaching collaboration between SEGI College and Lightroom Studio and Academy – the Masters Series Professional Photography Mentoring Program. The program is the first of its kind in Malaysia and recognizes that being a successful professional photographer goes beyond raw technical skill and into workflow, business and marketing; you might be able to get a degree in photography, but that doesn’t teach you how to make a living out of it. Of course, a strong portfolio is one of the outcomes of the course – I’ve yet to meet a client who at all bothered about my qualifications (no, they’re not photography related) after seeing my portfolio. Together with five other highly respected industry professionals (commercial photographers, MPA members, Hasselblad masters etc) – Jen Siow, Adam Seow, Lim Hock Seng, Kevin Then and Wesley Wong – I will be one of the masters teaching the course.

The aim of the program is twofold: to produce successful professional photographers, and to set standards and raise the bar for the industry as a whole. Whilst it might seem that we are going to shoot ourselves in the foot by training our competition, that isn’t necessarily the case: the market still remains big enough to support many professionals. The problem is that we’re all going to have to spend some time on both photographer and client education in order to ensure that the perceived value of our skills is appreciated and valued appropriately – by improving understanding, we can actually help the photographic and creative market to mature and grow. This is a very important responsibility of all true professionals in the industry so that we can continue to ensure future commercial sustainability.

The program itself is will be recognized by the Ministry of Higher Education as a postgrad diploma; it will be highly self-driven by the student and very much like a true Masters’ program. There are no limits on entry or application, other than that the students must have a portfolio and an aim; it’s much like my Email School of Photography in that regard but aimed at a more intensive level. Each student will spend time with a number of the masters depending on their chosen discipline; passing is dependent on a final portfolio review and assessment. Industry partners including Leica, Canon, Hasselblad, Profoto, HP, Pentax and Sony are supporting the effort, which will include a fully-equipped studio and workspace for students. Intakes will start in 2013 – I’m looking forward to this! MT

For more information contact Wesley Wong @ Lightroom Studio and Academy – wesley@lightroom-academy.com.my

The full press release can be downloaded here.

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