Brighton Road Studios

On the 12th of November, my class took a trip to visit the Brighton Road Studios in Gateshead to see Mark Taylor's studio. The studios are made up of fourteen smaller studios which creative individuals use for things such as Photography, painting and model making.

The studios are in an old church building in Gateshead that has been developed to strengthen a creative cluster in Gateshead. Being Photography students, we obviously were eager to see what a studio space was like for a professional Photographer.

My class sat down to hear Mark talk about what it was really like being a Photographer in the North East after leaving education. He also allowed us to view his current portfolio of work which he explains is used an awful lot to promote himself all over the country in the hope of finding work. We then were able to tour the rest of the building and see what life in Brighton Road Studios was like for other creative people. I managed to see a gentleman hard at work creating Star Wars masks which seemed rather difficult to even begin to put together, but the results were fantastic.

All in all it was a valuable experience to have visited the studios as not only did I have the chance to meet a well know North East Photographer, but I also was able to see what life would be life after I leave my studies, how I will cope, what I will have to do and whether or not I want to own or rent my own studio.