Photography Student Wins BBC Award

Third year Press & Editorial Photography student Peter Flude has been named Visual Journalist of the Year at the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme's first ever Student Journalism Awards.

From a shortlist selected by prominent journalists Nick Robinson and The Spectator's Isabel Hartman, Peter's winning submissions were projects he worked on during his second year.

Peter explained: "I submitted two short films that I produced, the first is about a group of cold water swimmers in Bude, Cornwall, and the second is about an all-refugee football team in my hometown of Chichester. I also submitted a short story on the charity Surfers Against Sewage, which I shot earlier this year for the Guardian newspaper.

"Studying Press & Editorial Photography has really helped me to develop my skillset, to the point where I feel confident enough to submit my work to competitions like Visual Journalist of the Year. Our lecturers are great at pushing us all to put our work out there into the professional sphere."

For his successful submission, Peter will have the opportunity to undertake a work placement with the Today Programme team in London or elsewhere in the UK if preferred.

Peter added: "It was really exciting to be surrounded by lots of industry professionals and to hear their encouraging and welcoming words to the next generation. I was obviously slightly nervous but also incredibly grateful to be there. I really hadn't gone there expecting to win my category so I was amazed when they called my name. It's really reassuring to know that people have responded to my work at this level. I'm not certain on the exact route I'm going to take with my photography but to have an opportunity like this which could help me into the industry is brilliant."