Chioma Okpara – Access Success Story
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It is a wonder that Chioma Okpara has any time left in which to study given her current schedule. She already has quite the trek on her hands just to get to Tower Hamlets College from Stockwell in south-west London but she seems prepared to take on a wide variety of other pursuits which would be enough to exhaust the average person.
Chioma was born in Lagos, Nigeria and only came to Britain in 1989, yet she seems to have been on-the-go since then. She is enrolled on an Access to Photography course at THC two days a week but combines this with voluntary work as freelance photographer, another photography course at The Roundhouse in Camden, a part time job at Argos and the pressures of launching a new design agency. The snap happiness is set to continue as she heads to Middlesex this autumn to take up an offer to study BA in Photography.
“I suppose it is quite a lot to take on!” she laughs. “I don’t often have much time to relax but I love being busy and doing what I enjoy. I have applied to go to university to study a BA in Photography next year so I might have to scale things down then but it is manageable at the moment.”
Despite her hectic schedule, Chioma tries not to lose touch with her Nigerian roots and heads back to her homeland on a fairly regular basis.
“It is a bit of a culture shock at first when you go back, as it is so different from the UK, but it is always a great experience. My parents are originally from the villages outside of Lagos and I am actually making a documentary on village life there at the moment. Documentary is where my film and photography interests lie and normal daily life out there makes for great images.”
As part of up and coming Brixton design agency Hustlebucks, Chioma has been busy designing and making t-shirts, hats, bags and other accessories in preparation for the launch of a shop called ‘One Hustle’ in Brixton Market. Although this has taken up a substantial chunk of her time, Chioma was keen to return to education having previously done a BTEC National Diploma in Business and Childcare in south London.
“I was looking for a small photography course and I went on Skill Set Online which has a list of all the courses and institutions. The course was ideal for me as it is part time and the content looked good so I was happy to travel a bit. Doing this course has been key to improving my skills and my confidence and I now realise that what I can produce is as good as anyone.”