Student wins major award

By Katie Johnson

After a colourful career in more industries than you can count, Anna Luscombe decided to make a leap and pursue a passion which had been lying dormant for some time—photography.

Beginning her part-time advanced diploma at Photography Studies College (PSC) in 2016, she’s now in her final year and hasn’t looked back.

“I’m dyslexic so I get bored easily and tend to jump around. I started off in nursing, then did a business degree, then midwifery, then recruitment,” Anna said.

“But photography has been my main interest behind it all, so I decided to go for it.”

Although she had always done photography in the background, Anna wanted to hone her skills for artistic portraiture.

“When I was finishing school, I wanted to be a photographic journalist and had great aspirations of going to war zones, but my dad was horrified and talked me out of it,” Anna said.

“So, I ended up doing something doing completely different, and I’ve come full circle.”

It’s clear that decision was the right one, as Anna has already won the Australian Institute of Professional Photography’s (AIPP’s) Silver Lining award for student of the year with her picture of the ski-patrol hut at Mt Buller taken during a snowstorm.

“I trekked out there one day in a snowstorm and started taking photos of it,” Anna said.

“It’s something that I’ve always loved up here because depending on the amount of snow, or amount of sun, it’s always got a different look about it.”

Another image Anna submitted was from a series she produced called Dyslexia, which was inspired by her own experience with the language disorder.

“I’m dyslexic and my son is dyslexic, and I noticed that when he started school back in prep, I walked into the classroom and thought, ‘My god, nothing has changed in 30-odd years,’” Anna said.

“So, I feel very strongly about the way that the education system still doesn’t cater for 20 per cent of the population, because one in five people is dyslexic.”

The series drew inspiration from the experience of her young son and her current profession as a dyslexia educator, with one of the images making it to the semi-finals of the AIPP awards.

“The images are quite surreal and have a lot of metaphor and symbolism. It’s a representation of the emotions of being dyslexic,” Anna said.

“I remember when I was at school, I had to wear the Dunce’s hat because I got something wrong. You do feel very isolated in the school system, so the images that I did represent how I felt and how I see my son reacting to things that go on at school.”

In Anna’s other work at PSC she does a “bit of everything”, but is particularly drawn to landscapes, whether they’re natural or created using post-processing.

“My style is minimalistic, clean lines, strong narrative. When I do the portraiture, it’s got more of an artistic flair to it,” Anna said.

“I can’t be pigeon-holed. So, the art major at PSC has been great for that.” •