BA (Hons) Photography Student Sam Pritchard recently conducted a large scale countryside photoshoot for his Degree Show 2025 project.
The shoot involved working alongside horses and a team of queer creatives to produce a stunning set of photos that are on display as part of the Degree Show exhibition from June 7-20.
Speaking on the project, Sam Pritchard said: “My degree shows work aims to show a culmination of my three years of experience within university. My practice over the years has explored various parts of my identity, but my third-year project has been both a mixture of nailing my more commercial craft and building on strong collaborative relationships. Coming from a very traditional, northern English village, I was able to make work that conformed to the norms and still be praised for it. Coming to a huge creative city like Manchester, I was forced to think more about who, and what I was drawn to within photography. Working alongside the queer community was important to me, and it was important that I was able to work alongside my peers in a way that felt celebratory and not performative”.
The work combines eye-catching fashion pieces with rural landscapes, creating a bold contrasting visual. Sam explained that this kind of photoshoot was always an aspiration that his time at the School of Digital Arts (SODA) helped him realise: “When I came to University, I already had a strong interest in fashion photography, but had always struggled with the practical side of making larger scale shoots happen. A large part of developing my craft and skill has been access to equipment, and access to a wider creative network. Before coming to university, I had never shot in a studio, on film, or with a bigger team than me and my friend as a model. Now, Ive been able to build my skillset by working with the best of the best equipment, in any environment I need, and arguably most importantly, working alongside the best group of collaborators to make the best work I can”.
The Manchester School of Art Degree Show showcases the final work of the university’s graduating creatives and highlights their growth of the duration of their course. Sam commented on how he has developed his craft over the last three years: “I feel this past semester has almost been a return to the basics for me, as its arguably much more commercial than my other projects. I’ve spent time over the past three years exploring my craft in a variety of niche areas, my degree show piece is serving as a summary of my practice, skillset and visual language. the work on the walls is a mix of newer work, and an image I took over a year ago now, and I feel for me it sums up not only a shift in my visual style, and a development in my technical and craft skills. This last piece for me was my most collaborative piece to date, and my most technically challenging, with a mix of digital and analogue techniques, but remains true to my queer roots and polished visual style”.
Be sure to visit the Degree Show 2025 to see Sam’s work alongside the rest of our incredible graduates.
Degree Show runs from June 7-20. Find out more info here.
