Award-winning online Photography alumnus on switching careers in his 50s and gaining Royal Photographic Society recognition
10 June 2026
After spending 33 years working in financial services marketing, MA Photography (Online) alumnus Nick Hodgson decided to take his career on a different path and pursue photography.
“I packed it all in in my early 50’s and decided to devote my time to my passion for photography,” Nick told us. “It was soon after making that change, I realised I needed to do an MA to fill in the knowledge gaps and become better acquainted with contemporary practitioners across a whole range of photographic genres. I also needed to learn from other photographers.”
Nick credits his reasons for choosing to study at Falmouth partly because of its reputation, partly for the convenience of it being an online course and partly because it could be studied over two years. “It was challenging but fulfilling hard work that included many learning curves. It had great teaching and an impressive list of guest lecturers,” Nick shared. “There was also a great sense of camaraderie within our cohort; many of us are still in touch with each other, supporting our ongoing work.”
Whilst at Falmouth, Nick focused his final major project on the coal free mining activities in the Forest of Dean. “My great grandfather, who I knew until he died when I was 11, was a coal freeminer in the Forest of Dean. I knew free mining was still legally happening, but with likely future climate change legislation and very few qualifying persons around to carry on the centuries-old tradition and legal right, I felt it would make a really interesting documentary project. I loved that it also offered an opportunity for me to reconnect with my family history.”
Nick decided to carry on working on the project after graduating from Falmouth, and from it, he applied for and was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) in the documentary category.
“It was one of the proudest moments of my life,” Nick shared. “For context, there are only around 650 living Fellows of the RPS in the world.”
Becoming a Fellow led Nick towards finding a publisher — Victoria Forrest at VIKA Books — who had previously been a guest lecturer at Falmouth during Nick’s time here. “Victoria expertly took my work and fashioned it into a gorgeous book, which ended up winning various awards,” Nick said. “It was also endorsed by the late Martin Parr, one of Britain’s most influential post-war photographers who I had the great pleasure of spending time with at his foundation in Bristol.”
Nick’s book has gone on to win awards at the Budapest International Foto Awards 2022 and the Prix de la Photographie Paris 2023 competition. It was one of six books shortlisted in the photography book category at the British Book Design and Production Awards 2023. Nick himself was also the Overall Winner of The Independent Photographer Landscape Photography Competition in 2022.
“The print run for the book was 300 copies, and now there are just five left. I’ve been presenting my project to camera clubs and photographic societies around the UK, always using the opportunity to promote the course at Falmouth, as it was the best possible catalyst for my photographic journey.
“Now, I’m working on a couple of smaller documentary projects. The free mining project took four years of my life and I’m not sure I can devote such time to one subject matter again!”
Capture what excites you with MA Photography (Online)
Images: Nick with his book and prints at Norwich & District Photographic Society (Header). Wardy exiting Folly free mine (Left). Members of Winchester Photographic Society looking at prints before one of Nick's talks (Right).
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