Ben Harman, Director of Stills: Centre for Photography in Edinburgh, speaks to Kara Bell, Sarah Newall, Zoe Cook and Kyle Bruce, some of the current Stills Academy participants.

Stills Academy runs twice a year as part of Stills School, an alternative photography school for 16—25 year olds who face barriers to accessing the arts. The Academy supports young people to develop photography skills at a pace and level that suits them. Over a 4-month period they have access to Stills' photographic production facilities to experiment and produce a new body of work for exhibition at Stills. Participants undertake exhibition visits and workshops and they attend talks from visiting artists. They are supported throughout the Academy by Stills' learning team and tutors who provide regular feedback and teach how to give and receive constructive criticism of their photographic work. The current Stills Academy students are: Kara Bell, Sarah Newall, Zoe Cook, Kyle Bruce and Zenub Fayyaz. Instagram: @stillsschool

Kara Bell is an Edinburgh based photographer and visual artist who specialises in both traditional monochromatic photography and vibrant digitally produced prints. Instagram: @dallasboycows

Sarah Newall is a Scottish photographer, based in Edinburgh. Often through portraiture, she attempts to evoke or depict an emotional state through careful consideration of creative direction, styling and accompanying text. Instagram: @shotbysrn

Zoe Cook is an artist based in Fife who focuses on portraying her emotions, as somebody with mental health conditions, through the means of photography and film. Instagram: @_zoecookart

Kyle Bruce is a Scottish creative artist from Edinburgh who has studied photography at Stills since 2019. He is interested in architecture and street photography in colour and monochrome. Instagram: @_kyle_bruce