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The Launch of Hereford Sixth Form College's Media & Journalism Training Course
30th September 2008
Hereford Sixth Form College's new Media & Journalism training course began with a visit by the award-winning freelance film-maker and photographer, John Bulmer.
Speaking at the regular Monday meeting, Mr Bulmer gave students an insight into the world of documentary film-making and students were able to hear, first hand, of his experiences in this field from over the last 30 years.
He originally studied engineering at Cambridge but, with an interest and flair for photography, quickly changed direction to work in the media. Selling his photographs to various magazines he began to make a name for himself and was offered a job with the Daily Express as a photographer. He later moved to The Sunday Times where his photos appeared in the first colour edition of The Sunday Times Magazine.
He showed students his work from Italy, France, the UK and Africa alongside some of his most famous photographs including a great image of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, which had been taken at their London offices.
From here, John moved into documentary film-making and went on to produce over 40 films for the BBC, Channel 4 and The Discovery Channel. Students were also shown some snippets of a film shot in Africa in the late 1960s.
For anyone thinking of a career in documentary film-making, John described the pressures of the working environment as "a combat experience". He also emphasised two key factors necessary, "the punch" for stories to be newsworthy and "the art of anticipation" which is vital in order to take memorable pictures.
John explained that there had been many changes to the profession over the decades and pointed out that photographers of today do not enjoy the freedom he had been allowed. He also noted that the photographer and journalist rarely travel and work together on a story; something he feels affects the quality of the work.
The meeting ended with a Q&A session. Students had thoroughly enjoyed John Bulmer's presentation, which they deemed a great success and felt honoured to have heard from someone so respected and experienced from the world of the media.