Diviane Best All-round Student in Photography

Diviane Monteiro was considered by her teachers to be the best all-round student, consistent with attitude, attendance and work, and very enthusiastic about her studies towards the Certificate IV in Photography and Photo Imaging.

“When you can capture and compose an image that makes people think ‘what’s going on here?’ then you’ve done a good job." This interesting perspective on photography, and a brilliant year of consistent hard work, earned Diviane the Student of the Year award for her class.

And now she’s graduated and scooped the prize, Diviane is heading back home to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Diviane had come to Melbourne Polytechnic after studying graphic design and fashion design in Rio, working in the fashion business and deciding to add photography to her skill set.

“I thought that photography would be a very very good tool for me, for my vision about aesthetics, composition and putting together everything else that I’ve learned from the grad school and from college,” she said.

Diviane picked up a professional camera for the first time at the Prahan campus and learned all styles of shooting, before deciding portraiture was her favourite.

“It’s all about the storytelling,” she said. “I really enjoyed learning this from my teachers, they were all so so great.”

Diviane is going home to her family, her boyfriend and her dog, and hoping to find work as a photographer “or go back as a fashion assistant but adding photography”.

“The photography is valuable in my future job,” she said. “I definitely can give more value in the work I’m doing because I got this from photography, this other way to look at things.”

Diviane's reflections on a year abroad

“I thought it would be a very very good experience for me because by the time you leave your home and everything you love behind, you open yourself for learning and growing,” she said.

“And I think that I’ve grown so much living by myself and having to resolve potential issues and looking after myself and doing everything, that I’m going back home feeling like I’m a different person right now. ”Diviane said she was a little sad to be leaving after her year at Melbourne Polytechnic.

“I’m going to miss everything, the people and the diversity.

“The best friend I have here is Aussie and she is an amazing friend.

“You Aussies have a great way to enjoy life, you’re travelling and you’re eating and you’re talking. You guys are always smiling and being nice, you don’t take things too seriously because life’s too short.”

But isn’t Rio de Janeiro more exciting than Melbourne? Apparently not.

“Melbourne has this amazing cultural feeling, there are awesome museums and galleries.

I’m not really a party girl, not a fan of carnival or football, I’m more shy and I’d rather be reading and visiting museums and having a nice dinner with friends.

“It’s awesome here, I got used to the cold and I made so many good friends here.”

Photography teacher Joel Rainford said: “She was here to learn photography and she learned.”

So why do a photography course at Melbourne Polytechnic?

“People do the course for lots of reasons, photography is all around us in many jobs, it’s a life-long skill.

“It’s about being passionate about making images and telling a story visually.”

Learn more about our Certificate IV in Photography and Photo Imaging