Audrey Albert
BA (Hons) Photography, 2018
About me
- Photographer and Creative Facilitator
- Studied: BA (Hons) Photography, 2018
About my career
My first job after graduating was actually a job I got when I was still in my final year. It was a customer service role for the skincare company BaseLift based in Manchester. What started as a part-time role eventually became a full-time role where I got promoted to in-house photographer and creative project coordinator. I applied for this role on the indeed website.
When I got promoted, my main roles were to create visual content for the company’s website and social media platforms; this varied from generic product shots, to visual marketing material and branding. I supervised all ongoing campaigns, photos, and video shoots as well as projects involving photography, videography, and written content. I made sure that the content produced was in line with the company’s visual branding, ethos, and marketing strategies. I was in charge of the digital content planning and posting making sure to generate interactive, informative, and aesthetic content for our target audience and customers. Proofreading, bookkeeping, recruitment, and liaising with suppliers and stakeholders were also part of my daily tasks.
I am currently self-employed working as a freelance photographer and creative facilitator. I am working on a few different projects with Contact Manchester (Manifesto of Care and Level Up projects), DIY Theatre (for their Digital Leaders project) and Manchester International Festival (as a Creative Fellow).
I have started a creative community project called Chagossians of Manchester (CoM) which is an extension of my photo series Matter Out of Place. It is a socially-engaged art project by and for the forcefully displaced Chagossian community of Wythenshawe. My socially-engaged art project includes four intergenerational creative workshops which will culminate in a Chagos Day event in March. With the training and mentoring of Contact Theatre through their Future Fires programme, I have strengthened my creative practice, leadership, and project management skills. I have acquired funding for my project via the Resourcing Racial Justice organisation despite the fact that they received over 1,000 applicants and only awarded 50 grants.
During my second and third years at Manchester School of Art, we were encouraged through a module called Professional Employability (PE) to actively volunteer within the art industry, look for jobs, shadow professionals, apply for open calls, network and make the most of any valuable experience within our field of study. I thoroughly enjoyed this module and it gave me the tools to expand my network, earn money, develop interpersonal and technical skills, and get experience. These are skills I have applied, and I am still applying them to my practice on a daily basis.
The practical aspect of my course which encouraged students to host and organise exhibitions highlighted the importance of community and artist/curator-led events, exhibitions, magazines or zines which is also an integral part of both my career and practice. This gave me a better understanding of project management.
My top tip for students
Find people, companies, institutions, and communities that align with yourself, your beliefs, and your principles. Get to know them, network with them, volunteer, and work with them. Also make sure any company or institution you get involved with is caring, respectful of yourself and of your needs. Be curious, question all things and everything but most importantly remember to always have fun and enjoy what you are doing.
I’m inspired by
People and their stories, by hidden history and memories.
Why I love Manchester Met
My time at the School of Art helped in beginning to understand my purpose as an artist and fed research and meaning into my practice.