Rhianna Hill

I have been pursuing photography for five years. I am based in Hertfordshire and explore a range of styles including documentary, street and event. My passion behind the art medium stems from capturing moments in life that connect people and making a difference visually.

Throughout my time at the Cambridge School of Art, I have created projects based on a variety of topics, from creating a photographic book based on a fictional story to documenting social issues in the local area of Cambridge. I aim to use photography by finding inspiration from the smallest of things, striving to produce excellence in whatever I photograph.

"Accommodate" is a social documentary project that explores the reality of student accommodation within Cambridge.

At the beginning of my final year, I experienced many frustrations with student housing within weeks of returning after the summer holidays. This included faulty fire alarms, major leaks near a fuse box and a broken back gate which caused several bikes to be stolen. After speaking with other students, I realised I wasn’t the only one. Students all around Cambridge were experiencing frustrations with their accommodation – mostly under the same housing agency which remains nameless for this project.

I started speaking with more students in Cambridge and photographing them in their rooms, capturing the personalities we get from their first time living alone whilst also alluding to the bigger picture with dirty framing and the subjects staring directly into the camera. I additionally photographed close ups of walls that have experienced damage and mould, which seems to be one of the most common problems students across the nation experience in their accommodation.

My hopes for "Accommodate" is that it can give a platform for these students so that their voices are heard on the poor standards of accommodation, giving a small insight to a bigger problem that isn’t spoken enough about.