Behind the scenes of The Assignment

Becoming a professional photographer is a tough business. Of course you need to know the basics, you have to have the flair, then it still takes sheer hard graft.

That’s the same now as it always has been.

Take Vicki Couchman, the head judge for the Canon EOS competition; The Assignment.

“My first big freelance project was for the Asian Women’s Project in East London. Something I really wanted to get involved in. I stood outside the door and wouldn’t go away until they saw my book.”

“Eventually I was commissioned to produce their annual report and from that I managed to get more social care projects. This type of work is still important to me.”

So, when Vicki was asked to tutor two students as part of The Assignment there needed to be a sharp eye on where this could take them. She was impressed with how much they learnt on all the assignments. In particular she felt their approach changed.

“They were more considered and thoughtful of their photographs and the final Portrait Assignment was excellent.”

This month we catch up with one of them, Benjamin Gerull, to find out exactly what he gained from such a fantastic experience. Benjamin is from Munich and has been studying for his Photography Diploma whilst working as an assistant to professional photographers.