BA (Hons) Photography

Gabriel Van Ingen is Senior Lecturer and Course Leader for BA (Hons) Photography and BA (Hons) Commercial Photography at Arts University Plymouth. Gabriel is highly experienced educator in the creative arts and an Ambassador for Docking Station, a Netherlands-based photography platform, and was previously Editor at LUMEN magazine of visual art and technology and Director of Nottingham-based artist studios and exhibition space, Secta Studios. His work has been exhibited across the UK and Spain. A PhD candidate with an MA in Photography from De Montfort University and a BA (Hons) degree in Photography from Nottingham Trent University, prior to his appointment at Arts University Plymouth, Gabriel acted as Course Leader for BA (Hons) Creative Practice at Derby College. Gabriel’s creative practice has a strong experimental focus, utilising a range of historical techniques and emerging technologies. Areas of special interest for Gabriel include using his practice to reconcile our relationship with the sea and a sense of disconnection between the longing towards a poeticised view of the sea, and our growing understanding of the environmental impact of human-induced environmental change and the strategic appropriation of our oceans. In 2013 Gabriel was commissioned by the Djanogly Gallery Nottingham to hand print black-and-white prints from negatives by British Photographer Roger Mayne for the exhibition Saturday Night Sunday Morning: The authentic moment in British photography, and in 2011 he was Artist-in-Residence for the Nottingham CAMRA Festival. With wide-ranging experience of working in Higher Education and international foundation creative programmes, Gabriel has also taught for over fifteen years, at institutions including Nottingham Trent University, University Centre Stamford, Nottingham Trent International College, Rotherham College and Peterborough Regional College.

Identity and culture are integral to Martina’s personal photographic practice. Her most recent work examines how DNA information, combined with family archives, can be used to unlock hidden narratives. Working with this information helps her to explore topics such as familial disconnect, the historical diaspora of many Irish people from their homeland, personal notions of cultural identity, and the human need to experience a sense of belonging in a global society.

Louise Fago-Ruskin is an artist, writer and lecturer living and working in the South West. She holds an MA in Photography from the University of Brighton, a BA from Plymouth University and a PGCE. Her work examines notions of the unconscious, utilising the camera as a contemporary confessional space. She aims to tackle such themes as ideological manipulation, familial notions of separation and reformation, and performance as reparative action. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally in group shows such as The Hyeres Festival of Fashion and Photography (Hyeres, France), Arles Photography Open Salon (Installation, Arles), and Parallax (La Galleria, London). She is currently represented by La Galerie Sakura in Paris. Louise's works have also been nominated for a variety of awards including 'Foam What's Next: A Search into the Future of Photography'. Louise has recently been selected from over 500 artists, writers and historians to take part in the Arquetopia International Mentorship Programme - a highly respected not-for-profit organisation in Puebla, Mexico and has recently published a photographic essay in The Image Journal (edition 103), a literary and arts quarterly edited by Aaron Rosen (" Art and Religion in the 21st Century") and is looking forward to a guest essay in the pending publication The Liminal Loop from The Lutterworth Press.

Jon Blyth has been exploring photography, social enterprise and socially engaged practice since co-establishing Fotonow CIC as a Creative Director in early 2009. Fotonow is based in Plymouth’s Royal William Yard. Their Camper Obscura project has been present at the Photographers Gallery, London, Format International Photography Festival Derby, Diffusion Festival Cardiff and the Brighton Photo Biennial amongst many other national venues and events. A decade’s further exploration of creative learning, social engagement and social enterprise has further led him to collaborations that established St Saviours CIC (2015) in Plymouth and Arts Lab CIC (2018) at Exeter’s Maketank. Jon's advisory roles include the board for Sound Communities CIC, Field Notes CIC, Vital Sparks amongst others. He is Subject Tutor for the MA in Entrepreneurship for Creative Practice programme at Arts University Plymouth. This MA program has supported graduates to establish creative social enterprises in Plymouth such as Community Photographic Studios (2019). Jon has represented Arts University Plymouth at the Social Enterprise World Forum in Glasgow and their involvement in the HEI group associated with Social Enterprise Mark. He is currently a Director at Plymouth Social Enterprise Network and pursues several anti-racism projects.