Agreed, James. My British Library pass has expired and I don't know what I'm gonna do. Have you tried The London Library or the National Art Library? The former you have to pay to join, but it is a lending library and the latter you have to prove that it's a 'last destination' library (i.e. you've tried everywhere else) but it's worth the trouble. It's probably THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LIBRARY IN THE WORLD. It's on the first floor of the V&A.

Oh, and Paulus, your words are playing on my conscience! I'm sure you're very honourable and your intentions are good! Maybe I was being a little harsh: I've been external examining this week and am filled with educational zeal.

Thanks so much Penny.
x

no worries

Doing a degree, studying... 2,3 and maybe many more years of your life taken up with, for... what? Not the qualification in itself, but not having to reinvent the wheel. Access to people, processes and skills it might otherwise take years and years to attain under your own steam (best sow early, even if what you learn takes fucking ages seed and grow well enough to digest, negative and positive).

Learning how to spend your whole life learning. Thanks to or inspite of whatever institution. Everything else is a bonus?

I waited 4 years to do my degree and I'm glad I did it. I was very realistic about it and I new I wouldn't get work from my degree show and land a £30,000 a day job. But what I got from it was the chance to develop personal ideas with the support and facilities to hand at minimal cost. Since graduating I haven't found it so easy to develop personal projects because of a lack of facilities that don't cost an arm and a leg or lack of my own £ (I have a mortgage now yawn!). Some people need the university process for the feeling of standing on their own 2 feet and the independance it can give away from their home life. Some people do actually get a great confidence from uni. There is a certain member of this forum who was on the course with me and the right thing for him was to leave and develop his photography within the industry not uni. This worked really well for him and it was the best move he could've do. For me I wanted to stay as I wanted the degree for no one other than myself. There's no right or wrong I just think people need to be realistic about doing a degree only a handful of people will be "discovered" from the degree show. The rest will need to work as hard as everyone else does once graduated.

i dislike all this carreerist conversation.