STUDENT photographers are honing their craft pitch-side thanks to a partnership with Northampton Town Football Club.
Five undergraduates on the University of Northampton’s Photography degree are spending match days at the Cobblers’ PTS Academy Stadium, where they take photos for the club’s marketing purposes.
Final year student Dean O’Keeffe has been taking shots at the stadium since last season, and says the experience has had a huge positive impact on him.
“It’s taken me out of my comfort zone and made me so much more confident with people,” said Dean, who is a lifelong Cobblers fan.
“While I study the technical and theoretical aspects of photography on my course, getting out there and applying it to the real world is essential, and I now feel equipped for a career after university.”
Dean’s brief has been to take photos of the crowd, supporters arriving outside the ground and activities in other areas.
He said: “If I had to pinpoint a certain good thing I love about these images, it would be the sense of calm the colours and the people’s attitudes give when a normal matchday can be a little chaotic.”
Sharing photographic duties with Dean this season are his coursemates Ethan Stapley, Will Crudge, Tyler Miller and Jake Brooks.