Graduate interview: Ula Wiznerowicz
We know how important career prospects are when you’re choosing your course and your university.
To help you make the right choice, we asked our graduates to tell us about their experiences of our courses, so you can hear from the people that matter.
This month we talked to Ula about her career as a photographer, make sure you have a look at our interview with Laura last month, who is now a graphic artist.
Ula Wiznerowicz graduated in 2010 with a degree in BA Photography. We caught up with her to find out what she’s doing now, and how her Middlesex degree helped her to achieve her career goals.
What are you doing now, Ula?
Well, my second exhibition has just finished, it's called Behind the Curtain. All the photos were taken in the village of Palmowo, Poland, which is where I grew up. The photos represent the personal journeys of the men and women photographed and particularly, their battles with alcoholism. Preparing for my exhibition has kept me really busy, as it involves printing, framing and designing an exhibition catalogue, as well as the promotional aspects of the event.
Where do you work?
I am a freelance photographer and work on different commissioned projects, which means my work is always varied. I’ve just finished a project commissioned by International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove, Cornwall. I basically had to document life at Prussia Cove: musician’s rehearsals, the kitchen staff, the volunteers helping prepare food for the musicians, the houses where the musicians play and their concerts.
At the same time as working on my freelance projects I work on personal projects, and in my free time I’m an assistant to a respected documentary photographer. It’s really valuable to learn from someone who’s an established photographer, it gives me great insight into a long term career in photography.
How did your Middlesex degree prepare you for your career?
I received great support from the tutors who run the photography course at Middlesex. Under their direction I developed skills and knowledge that helped me establish my own style of photography. They instilled a healthy dose of determination and passion in me and took an active interest in my work and projects, which eventually earned me some important awards. In 2010 I was selected as a finalist in The Saatchi gallery and Channel 4’s New Sensations awards.
We also had great facilities at Middlesex – I used a big digital darkroom providing great printing and scanning facilities and we could always count on the help of a highly qualified technician.
What’s a typical working day for you?
There’s really no such thing as ‘a typical working day’ for me. Every day looks different. At the moment I
spend most of my time organising my exhibition. I look for sponsors and media partners by emailing and calling different companies, magazines and newspapers. I do research on galleries and send exhibition proposals to different galleries in the UK and Poland. Then I spend a few hours on designing promotional materials like leaflets, posters and my exhibition catalogue.
When I’m hired to shoot a project I have to prepare myself for the specific demands of each assignment. Being a perfectionist and very detail-orientated, I always discuss with the subject about exactly how he/she wishes to be portrayed. I then prepare the subject and environment so I can achieve the best photograph possible.
What aspects of your course did you particularly enjoy?
I loved the hands-on nature of the course, which involved working on photography assignments. I also liked spending hours and hours in the darkroom. Lovers of traditional photography will definitely enjoy the process of developing and printing using different papers and techniques. It was also very important to me to have a focus on career prospects on my course – so I particularly enjoyed the lectures given by successful photographers, which were really useful and inspiring.
More information
If you would like to know more about BA Photography at Middlesex, take a look at our course page.
And if you are a Middlesex graduate and would like to be featured on the website like Ula, please email webadmin@mdx.ac.uk
You can see Ula’s photos on her website, select the tab that says 'Behind the Curtain' to see the photos of her exhibition.
