News Picture Perfect! 04.08.2020

Former Collyer’s student Owen Duda has been travelling the country as part of his career with Jessops, one of the UK’s to photographic retail chains. He is presenting photography courses, one to one sessions, workshops and experiences to a variety of groups, which is amazing, when you consider that Owen only left Collyer’s in 2018, having achieved his A-levels, including an A grade for Photography!

Before studying at the Ofsted Outstanding college, photography was a hobby for Owen, inspired by his Grandad, a passionate wildlife photography enthusiast.

Owen said: “Studying photography at Collyer’s gave me the confidence to learn new skills such as analysing a photographer’s style and reasoning behind their images and developing my own photographic approach. Support was always available from the teachers and technical staff if I needed it!

“Group discussions and presentation skills learnt during photography lessons at Collyer’s gave me the independence and planning which I now need to use in my career, every single day.”

Laura Andrews, Head of Photography said: “We loved teaching Owen, he was always such a keen photography student and worked really hard during his time with us. He also photographed many college events as part of our press team. We are so proud of all Owen has gone on to achieve and wish him all the best as he career continues to flourish.”

Owen now specialises in wildlife and macro photography in his spare time, in particular extreme macro photography. He explained: “I enjoy challenging subject matter that are not easy to capture, often requiring patience and time. I spend a large amount of time in London and I enjoy capturing the busyness of city life. I also enjoy night-time star trail photography in the clear skies of Sussex.”

Deputy Principal Steve Martell said: “Owen Duda’s work is stunning and when he worked as a student press photographer with Laura and I last year, we were convinced he was destined for great things in this field.

“Owen is an absolute credit to the Collyer’s community and his ongoing success story is an example to our current cohort that you can follow your dream!”

Owen’s stunning work and How-To instructions can be found on his Instagram (@odudaphoto). A selection of Owen’s amazing work is below