Photography work experience for students at the Vogue Codes Summit

What is Vogue Codes Summit?

Vogue Codes Summit 2024 was a large-scale women-led event where female leaders came together to talk and learn about all things tech, science and innovation. This year, the theme was Technotopia: Designing the World of Tomorrow and featured in-depth conversations about how we engage with everything – beauty products, food, love – and how it will be altered by emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. Among the speakers was Billy Blue alumna, Melanie Tran, who provided insights into the relationship between accessibility and design.

The event was held at the unique Carriageworks venue and included several brand activations run by Australia partners, including Audi, Round House, Net-A-Porter and us, Billy Blue College of Design.

Work experience at Vogue Codes Summit 2024

Daniel Coelho and Peter Collie, members of the Billy Blue photography academic team, collaborated with our Diploma of Photography and Photo Imaging students Rebecca Burr, Federica Bonelli, River Waller and Udo Bucher to create a professional headshots activation for guests looking to elevate their digital presence. They efficiently set up and ran the stand at the Vogue Codes Summit event, which was an invaluable opportunity to put their classwork into practice.

Some of the students decided to use their own camera equipment, however most of the equipment needed was borrowed from the Design Technology Store, a service that Billy Blue offers where students can borrow a range of camera, lighting and audio equipment, and get information on how to use it.

The students were involved in the end-to-end process, from the initial idea to set up and execution, giving them the insight of how a professional photographer should work in similar scenarios, and preparing them for life in the industry after graduation.

Carriageworks opened their doors for the event attendees, it was game on for the students. Billy Blue’s stand had a queue of people waiting to have their shots taken, and our students took photos of about 250 people, receiving some lovely feedback from those who were photographed.

“I got to do what I love the most: being a photographer” Federica commented.

Photography work experience opportunities

The photography students valued gaining experience in a fast-paced environment, as it was helpful to test their skills and knowledge.

“It was definitely eye opening,” Rebecca remarked.

The day provided valuable lessons that will significantly impact their future work. River mentioned that this experience will be beneficial for his goal of setting up stalls at large events like the Easter show or SMASH Sydney Manga and Anime Show. He noted that it helped him develop a quicker workflow, essential for managing big events and large audiences efficiently.

Udo reflected on the photographic aspect of the experience, emphasising the importance of working quickly due to time constraints. They highlighted how this taught them to capture quality images with limited shots, focusing on bringing out the best expressions or personas in a short timeframe. This necessity for technical precision in every shot was a crucial learning point. Additionally, Udo appreciated the opportunity to work in teams of two: “Learning to work synergistically with another is also good professional development.”

Peter, our photography learning facilitator, remarked that students embraced the opportunity and its challenges across planning the event and interacting professionally with their subjects.

“This real-life experience, including a few minor glitches that were resolved, will give them a lot of confidence going forward”, Peter stated.

Billy Blue College of Design’s partnership with Vogue Codes

Our iconic partnership with Vogue Australia is a great way to shape your future, offering scholarships, exclusive access to Vogue events and Vogue internship opportunities. This helps us support emerging talent, who we believe will be the future creative leaders in industry.

Forbes posits that nothing compares to the experience of an internship, which gives you a better understanding of the industry, the business and its clients, as well as a great opportunity to learn and make mistakes among others. Here, past Vogue Australia intern Holly mentions some specific takeaways from her own internship at Vogue Australia – and this is only one of many examples.

Although Vogue Codes Summit has been running for a few years now, this is the first year Billy Blue College of Design was the official education sponsor. In turn, Vogue hosted Vogue Codes Con at Billy Blue College of Design's Sydney campus on Thursday 29 August, where a panel of experts delved into all things technology, fashion and business.