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Steve Rhall - RMIT Graduate Wathaurong
Yeah, my name's Steven Rhall. I'm a diploma of Arts photography graduate. I graduated
last year. I'm currently studying the diploma in photography at RMIT University. I'm from Geelong,
Wathaurong country and yeah, I'm a typical student, I guess, share housing in
Melbourne and try to attend to all my assessments and pay the bills.
In wanting to learn more about photography and take my skills further to see whether it ...
it was sort of the career path for me. I thought I'd do the diploma first. And, you know,
there's a few good reasons why one might do that, hex is one. But, yeah, in doing the
diploma, I thought as opposed to trying to enter the industry in the various roles you can have,
that the degree option was good because of an arran ... arrangement with ... between TAFE and
higher ed. In doing the diploma I could go straight into the second year of the degree which is
good for many reasons, you know, there's the year of the, you know, one year that I've saved in
study but also the year in hex that I'm avoiding. And I believe just with the slight sort of
difference in teaching styles and sort of, you know, cultures that exist between TAFE and
higher ed I'm getting sort of the best of both worlds.
I chose RMIT, and I guess coming from Geelong, Melbourne specifically because no ... there
was nothing what I was after being offered where I lived. And just in terms of the different
options in Melbourne to study photography, RMIT's got quite a well renowned
reputation for producing talented graduates. And just the fact that I've, you know, maybe at the
end of next year when I graduate that I come out and I'd say that I've studied at RMIT even
before I'm shown any work that might be a good ... good foot in the door.
You know, for one, in TAFE, at least, most of the teaching staff have worked as professionals
for many years and many of them are still practising so there's a lot of industry relevant
knowledge that's been past on to students. And yeah, the resources, whilst, you know, as
many students could probably wish to have more and more resources and equipment to access
they're quite well resourced. External to the program itself, resources such as library materials
and, you know, support for students, the Ngarara Willim Centre, it's quite a good, you know, support
and resource for indigenous students. Yeah, and I guess in studying at two city-based campuses,
just the location. I've had to maybe pay a bit more rent to live closer but it's quite ... quite
handy to many locations to shoot and, you know, third party sorts of businesses that
cater to photographers.
They're really involved in the industry, they've got a lot of relevant experience to pass on
but generally, you know, they make themselves quite accessible. And, you know, you sort
of feel comfortable in ... in wanting to get, you know, some feedback on your work or some
advice or even if it's personal stuff too. You know, I've pretty much felt if ... if there was
ever the case I could talk to my teachers about, you know, things that might be getting ... getting
in the way of meeting assessment deadlines and ... or even practical things like the lending of
gear or just advice on ... on completing my work.
All the semester's work was clearly outlined with dates. All resources were listed there for
you to access. The time spent in each lecture was obviously well thought out and it was
a progression from start to end that, you know, reflected your workflow working on
particular work. This teacher also had his lectures recorded, which we could then access on Lectopia,
which was very very valuable, not only if A, you don't make it but B, to, you know, revisit what
was said in the lecture when you get home and just play it back online, which I thought
was fantastic. And actually for that particular subject, I was even considering out of all the
subjects in the second year to do as a first year because it was one of my weaker points
but I turned out to become very comfortable in ... in that sort of work and actually do as well as
all my other subjects. And I ... I feel it was just due to all those ... those factors, just the thought
that the teacher put in to teaching that course.
Go to open day, look at what the various options are for ... for where you want to go with your, you know,
your life in general or if it's a specific career look at the sort of various pathways that you
might want to take that could get you to that sort of area. Really do a bit of research in terms
of pre-selection. Some courses are quite competitive to get into, so if you're well prepared
with material for if and when you get an interview or for when you get an interview, that
that's going to reflect quite well and you're more likely to get chosen to get in. That, of course,
varies with different courses and, you know, just come in with an open mind. You know, people
come from lots of different sorts of life experiences and towns, you know. Melbourne's a
bit of a big city, but just try not to be too overwhelmed with any changes if they're big ones
because there's support there that you can access.
My studies has helped my career evolve really from something that was just a bit of a hobby where
I thought oh maybe I might start charging people, whereas I'd call them now clients for photographic
services to really grow essentially my own business. You know, I call myself a freelance
photographer. You know, and doing the course has really helped grow that side of, I guess,
my existence here in Melbourne, the ... the business side as opposed to the academic student
side, just through all the skills that I have developed. You know it's really ...
the studies are set out in a way just ... just to build upon the skills as you acquire them. Also there's
been a lot of content in terms of with it being, you know, photographic course and programs,
that a lot of the content is business based. So there's a lot of advice on how to make it
in the industry whether you're, like myself, self-employed freelance or you're looking at being an
assistant or you're working in a studio at some stage. Yeah, and ... I could even say that
some jobs that I've done, have come about through RMIT itself. A lot of people in the community
know that we've got pretty good photography programs so they, you know, contact RMIT for any
willing students to go and shoot images that they require. Some of them are after a, you know,
a cheap quick type of job, but it's good that the staff sort of really give us some
good advice on how to approach these opportunities and still get compensated
for what the individual is worth.