The life of Graham
Graham Diprose is a photographer and lecturer whose freewheeling career has been a journey of luck and the natural ability to mentor. He has been part of the LCC Mentoring Scheme since 2018. Graham began teaching at London College of Communication (then called London College of Printing/LCP) in 1971, the same year he completed his Higher National Diploma in Photography there.
“I managed to blag my way into the London College of Printing with only one A level,” Graham recalls. “Because I liked doing art an awful lot, and hated physics.”
Back in the early-70s many students got headhunted for photographer’s assistant jobs before they even graduated – something that’s hard to imagine now. The job market for creatives in London is brutal nowadays, and students have a hard time finding a way into a career. But Graham is convinced that LCC’s mentoring scheme is vital for support and guidance during the college-to-work transition period. He did however benefit from a mentor himself, an informal and lucky break as he puts it.
After graduating, Graham jumped into a freelance career in advertising but continued working as a lecturer for the next 39 years. During his time as a senior lecturer, Graham shook things up by founding an LCC award, sat on validation panels, started a Graduate Diploma course and then retired to concentrate on co-writing an International Textbook of Photography for Thames & Hudson.
He got involved in doing research and book publishing projects from the 80s onwards, one being about the River Thames and another about London’s Changing Riverscape Panoramas for the Museum of London. “The Dean kept wondering why whenever it was a sunny day Graham wasn’t coming in to do admin but was out on his boat taking pictures.”
“If you are interested in people, they will be interested in you. It’s that simple”
Despite being busy with different commitments, he still found the time and energy to engage with his students and their projects outside the curriculum. “If you are interested in people, they will be interested in you. It’s that simple,” he asserts. “Whether it’s mentoring or me approaching the Head of PR for the Port of London Authority asking them for £5k to print out my panorama photography – you just have to convince them that they can’t live without your project.”
On the cloudy days when Graham wasn’t on his boat or working hard at College, he was occasionally involved in mentoring younger staff towards becoming course leaders along with Natalie Brett, now Vice Chancellor of LCC. This wasn’t part of a student mentoring scheme, but Graham’s first snippet of what it’s like to be a mentor.
Overall, Graham is a natural at mentoring and has always provided impartial extra-curricular support for his students. He only joined the Industry Mentoring Programme in 2018 because he felt a conflict of interest in doing that alongside a new teaching role for an independent college. During his final years teaching foundation groups at LCC, he would sometimes recommend that some students continue with their studies at another university if he found it more suitable for a particular student’s needs.
Even though Graham considers himself lucky to have got a good break post-university, he understands the difficulties of getting into the creative industry. “It’s part of the remit to help people get jobs. Not to find one for them but make them more employable. And that is the jump between everything they can teach you at university and everything the industry actually is… This is not a criticism of universities or the industry – but the two just don’t always really match.”
By appreciating that there is a gap and making the most of it instead of trying to close it, the Mentoring Programme is a way of maximising a graduate’s potential.
“It’s about making your own luck”
“It is huge fun being a mentor!” Graham enthuses. “You just have to be a cheerleader for them.” One of his mentees, Zula, went back to her home country, Poland, and has been documenting the abortion law battle with photographs. Graham has encouraged her to publish them in the UK.
Another mentee, Ruby, studied MA Art Direction so at first photographer Graham wasn’t convinced that he would be the right mentor for her. But it turned out he was more than helpful. Graham was Ruby’s “cheerleader” when she found success in competitions and arranged for Zula and Ruby to have their research projects published on prestigious academic websites.
“I have been very lucky with the two mentees I have had,” says Graham. “Because they have both been very hungry. And I think it is about making your own luck ultimately. It’s a relationship you have to build. I have heard students say they don’t get along with their mentors because they have been making them work too hard. Well, they probably are. But it is going to be hard to get out there and get into business in this day and age.”
Whether it’s about luck or discipline, kicking doors or not kicking doors – the bridge between graduation and work is difficult and Graham is convinced that LCC’s Postgraduate Industry Mentoring Programme is beneficial for both parties.
He is eager to continue: “If you see Luminita [head of the Industry Mentoring Programme] you can tell her she can give me another one!”