by Maria Driscoll

Holland College Photography and Digital Imaging students Liam Mogan and Mike Needham, along with program graduates Jen Ford and Dorothy Hart, are all reaping the rewards of the successful Photography and Digital Imaging program at Holland College. Both Mogan and Needham placed in the top 7 out of 97 photography entries from across Canada in the 2004 National Fujifilm Student Challenge. Mogan also had a double page spread of his digital work published in the October 2004 issue of Photolife magazine. Graduates Ford and Hart each had an image published in Photolife magazines ?The Best of Student Special? for September 2004.

Maurice Henry, who hosts the Rogers cable show called FOTO, recently featured instructor Alex Murchison along with both Ford and Mogan in a show this past October. So impressed by the promotional efforts of both Jen and Liam, Maurice decided to look into the College's Photography and Digital Imaging Program to feature the two students. When asked what it meant to the program and these students for the opportunity to showcase their young talent in front of a viewing audience of 4,000,000 people, program instructor Alex Murchison replied, "Promotion and exposure are key factors for success when starting a photography business, especially while still a student. For our graduates and current students features in Photolife and air time on the show FOTO are great opportunities for resumes and portfolios and perhaps even a job offer or photo assignment." Murchison also added that the reason for the success of these students comes down to, "Love of photography and the willingness to get their work out of the classroom and into the public eye".

Second year students of the College's Photography and Digital Imaging program will be doing a series of photographs on the theme "inclusion" for the Association for Community Living on P.E.I. The photographs will be used on posters promoting the inclusion of all individuals into daily society.