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Elected to the Hall of Fame 2001

The Famous Roomset Project

So you want to recreate the scene of… ooh say the 6th floor book depository from which Lee Harvey Oswald pointed his sniper's rifle at J.F. Kennedy's motorcade in 1963?

Well, you've got a week to do it, you don't have a budget and it's all got to fit into the space the size of a small garden shed.

Welcome to the Roomset Project…

Rite of Passage

The Roomset Project is a bit of a unique project that has, over the years, become a sort of a rite of passage for photography students at Salisbury College.

Started in the early 80s it has, since than, been either 'enjoyed or endured' by green horn photographers heading into the second year of their HND course.

And it's no easy project….

In just five days the students, with a smattering of studio experience, not only have to come up with a set design but have to build it from scratch; hunt for props; work out how to light it; photograph it and finally clear it all away again:

Elected to the Hall of Fame 2002

"It's a very structured, organised, professional ask," says John Martin the college's photography lecturer. "In teams of four to five, maximum, they have just one week to prep and a week to prop it, shoot it and take it all down."

But, if past years are anything to go by, it can be hard to believe that not only are the final shots taken by students but in a studio as well.

Drop the skeleton

With a loose brief, and inspired by film footage and modern mythology, the students have just a 20ft by 8ft space in which to stage their ideas and create the most powerful images possible. 

A recipe, surely, for at least a few really over ambitious ideas…

"One year, the student's idea was a 'Cluedo' set", says John. "He'd helped a friend with a house clearance and arrived at college with a harmonium, two chaise-longues, a stuffed bear and a skeleton that arrived sitting in the front seat of his car with a Nazi helmet on.

Elected to the Hall of Fame 2002

"They soon learn however that cutting back and hinting at things is more effective," he adds. "There's more drama in what you don't show and in hinting at what's in the shadows."

But the pressures of a tight production schedule, no budget and limited experience aside the real problems can actually come from photographers in numbers:

"Photographers are normally loners," says John. "Put them in teams and there's blood on the wall."

Just the sort of set up you'd want to have a webcam pointed at? Well Salisbury College do.

So if you want to sneak a peak at the students in action LIVE, click on the link below:

This year's sets are rumoured to include a bizarre 'Father Ted' look lounge and an Alien-X-Files scene with white light streaming through the cracks in the floor boards.

You have until Friday 2nd February, 2007, to check on the students' progress and in March, at Salisbury Library, you'll be able to see the photographic results in the group's Interim Show.