Name: Peter Lawrence
Current year level: First year Advanced Diploma student

Describe your first impression of PSC.
The dominant impression was the quality of the student images hanging on the walls. I wanted to be able to make images like that.

What do you like most about PSC?
It's hard to narrow down to a single, dominant positive but if I had to pick one I think it would be the emphasis on producing a coherent body of work rather than just a collection of individually good images. As one of the tutors put it, "learning to let go of one great image because it didn't fit within the folio".

Where did your photography interest come from and when did it begin?
Photography is a new hobby for me. It started 2 years ago when I bought my first DSLR. As a student I had done some monochrome photography using film in optical and electron microscopes – but that was nearly 40 years ago!

How different are your photography & conceptual skill now compared to the first week of the course?
The difference is enormous really. I went through school being told I had no visual arts aptitude, largely because I could neither draw nor paint, and so I came to PSC viewing photography as an essentially documentary medium. What I've learned is that through photography I can express an artistic faculty, albeit primitive, that I never knew I had.

What has been your greatest challenge / achievement whilst studying at PSC?
Producing a series of images with a common, identifiable theme. Having an idea for an image is one thing but having an idea that can sustain ten or more images is a whole other challenge.

What advice would you give to future students?
It's fine to start the course with a clear view of what you want to achieve but come with an open mind. You might discover opportunities you never expected ­ both within and outside PSC.