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Petroc students are larger than life

Students returning to Petroc Barnstaple after the festive holidays were surprised to see giant, larger than life-sized pictures of their classmates adorning the walls.

In a move to bring colour and vibrancy to the interior of the College, Petroc enlisted the help of Devon-based professional photographer Roy Riley.

Riley, who has produced work for The Times and John Lewis, photographed students from all areas of the College. This included catering, sport, media, Higher Education and the Petroc radio station, to name a few.

Local advertising agency, Bray Leino, then transferred the images onto giant boards and installed them around the College.

The photographer described the young learners involved in the shoot as “refreshingly eager”.

“Everyone came to the shoot with a positive attitude and that made my job easier. It can be a bit scary for young people to be in front of the camera but the Petroc students were really up for it”, said Riley.

He went on to say: “I am very happy with the finished images. We had a tight deadline and a long shot list, but I think the portfolio of images will look great on the walls of Petroc.”

Several of the featured students were surprised by the size of the finished pieces. Matthew Palmer, DJ on the College radio station Fresh FM, appears in a photograph in the main foyer.

He said: “It’s a bit weird having a bigger than life-sized picture of your face staring back at you when you walk into College.”

However, he spoke positively about the images, saying: “They certainly brighten up the place.”

The stars of the artwork have had to get used to being recognised around College. Jessica Doughty, who features in a photo with other media students, said: “People always say ‘nice photo in G Block!’” and Rebecca Priest of the netball team said: “Lots of people do text me about it. It is quite an impressive size.”

Using current students, rather than actors or archive photos, seems to have created a feeling of pride among the learners involved in the shoot. “The artwork shows interest in the individual students. I think it would be nice to see more around College, as it helps people be recognised for what they enjoy doing”, said Thomas Dimelow, whose photo greets people as they enter E Block.

Stephanie Batstone, pictured with the College’s incredibly successful netball team, agreed that it would be nice to see more artwork in the corridors around College. She said: “It makes the College walls more interesting, but I’m glad there’s only one of me!”

One student who can’t be shy about her photo is Yuehan Liu, as she features in a total of five images. Yuehan, who keeps getting texts from friends saying they’ve found another photo of her, said: “I found the photoshoot very enjoyable and I would like to do more.” She added: “I think these (the photos) are fantastic!”

With hundreds of images still on file and plans for more installations throughout the year, it will only be a matter of time before more students start spotting pictures of themselves in unlikely places.