Equipment and hands-on workshop brings incredible boost to QE's photography department

Queen Elizabeth's Photography Department was donated six cameras, worth £7,400 total, from Sony Europe B.V. as part of the company’s approach to inspire the photographers of the future.

Sony Europe, in partnership with the exceptionally talented London based photographer Tom Oldham, visited the school last week to run a full day workshop and one-to-one hands-on sessions with GCSE and A-Level students at QE. Students were then able to try out the new cameras and experiment with newly acquired techniques.

Tom Oldham is the 2020 recipient of the prestigious Open Photographer of the Year category at the Sony World Photography Awards, and these educational sessions form part of his community outreach.

The Kids in Focus programme is a series of photographic workshops run by Sony across Europe to support young people from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds. It offers youth access to professional advice on future studies and career pathways, professional camera equipment and hands-on tuition to help advance their photography technique skills.

Tom said: “As a former student at PCA in Plymouth it’s always a delight to be visiting the south west, but to be travelling again and meeting the next generation of photographers means more than ever before.”

He added: “I was super grateful to be welcomed so warmly at QE, to be chatting photography and donating cameras with the team from Sony through the Kids in Focus programme. I can’t wait to see the results from the day.”

QE Photography Teacher Sandra Elson said: “During lockdown, Tom reached out to Photography teachers through his Instagram page to ask how we were all doing. We got chatting and Tom expressed an interest in working with QE.  Due to his strong links with Sony, Tom contacted them to see if they were able to support our students in any way.

The resulting donation and workshops were an incredible gift and an amazing opportunity to extend the students learning outside the classroom, serving also to highlight how the creative subjects underpin a broad and balanced curriculum.

I am so thankful to Tom Oldham and Sony for not only their time, but the fantastic equipment they have donated to the department. The legacy of this is that the students will continue to benefit long after today.”

QE is one of a growing number of schools in Europe to benefit from the Kids in Focus programme and Alistair Appleton, General Manager, Corporate Communications Europe, Sony Europe B.V. said, “It was a delight to see the children so positively engaged in the workshops and exploring what they’d learned to great effect. The photos they took were truly impressive – it was lovely to be able to inspire the next generation of photographers.

Tom Oldham, as well as being one of the world’s most recognised professional photographers, is also a truly inspirational and engaging speaker. It was a pleasure to work with him again and to see the QE students so captivated by his presentation.”