I had a nagging thought as I began this course. There are certain approaches to photography, certain techniques, which have always interested me. In particular I want to produce images which show the effects of time, things that cannot be seen unaided. Superimposition, time lapse, slow shutter speeds, very long exposure times.

As I started researching different photographers I quickly realised that the ideas I have are not as original as I had – maybe naively – thought. Alexey Titatrenko’s City Of Shadows in particular both wowed me and worried me. How can I produce similar work without appearing to be a copycat?

I raised this fear with my tutor. It appears that the answer is to consider photography as having movements and styles as in any other art form. Whilst techniques and visualisations may have much in common, it is highly unlikely that a specific image would be replicated so exactly that it counts as plagiarism. The trick is to not get hung up on fears of being a copycat but to allow your influence to show.

As I have subsequently discovered, Roberto De Mitri’s City Of Ghosts demonstrates that perfectly.