Level: Undergraduate
Study Mode: Full Time / Part Time
Duration: 3 years (full time), 6 years (part time)
Application: To UCAS (full time), Direct to College (part time)
Application Deadline: 15 Jan 2012
UCAS Course Code: W643
Institution Code: H18
Validated By: University of Wales

Click here to view the Programme Specification for this course

‘ What a fabulous place to study Photography’
Brian Griffin, Visiting Photographer, Nov 2011

The BA (Hons) Photography programme is designed to enable students to experience and negotiate the diverse, rich and often complex nature of the contemporary photographic world through its content of challenging and engaging modules.

The placement, reading and value of images in contemporary culture and society has shifted dramatically over recent years. The act of photography has never been so accessible to so many with developments in digital technologies and the opportunity to ‘publish’ and share images via the web. This has opened the image making world to a wider audience, but in so doing has raised many challenges for professional photographers to successfully navigate and define themselves in the industry, whether this be in documentary, fine art or the commercial field.

Acknowledging these exciting challenges in the contemporary photographic environment, the course provides students with the opportunity to fully engage with a process of exploring and defining an individual photographic practice to be able to navigate and succeed in the industry. The development of an individual relationship with the medium is central to course philosophy and during progression through the course, students will work towards a defined destination for themselves and their practice, which could be as an exhibiting artist, a documentary photographer, curator, educator, commercial freelance photographer, photographic technician, or to progress further to Masters Degree.

The programme is delivered by a team of qualified and dedicated lecturers and technicians whose external knowledge and experience is brought to the learning environment and who are involved with their own practice in various fields. Individual tutorial support is key to the delivery of the course philosophy in enabling students to develop their own informed practice within the medium alongside technical workshops, seminars, lectures and critiques that provide the space for essential contextual contemporary debate.

The course is proactive in ‘looking out’ of the learning environment, encouraging students to engage with many external live projects. The course is enriched by a number of professionals from various arenas in the photographic world who teach into the course programme throughout the academic year as Visiting Tutors, including Bridget Coaker from The Guardian and Rhonda Wilson MBE from Rhubarb Rhubarb – the Photographic Development Agency. The course has strong links with The Hereford Photography Festival which often provides students with the opportunity to exhibit and gain experience of curatorial responsibilities. Course trips throughout the academic year to national and international exhibitions and events, photography festivals and seminars further enrich the learning experience.

Modules in Years 1 & 2 introduce students to key technical, conceptual and theoretical aspects of photography. Practice based modules demand individual visual and conceptual response to photographic genres, whilst gaining experience of essential techniques and approaches. These include all traditional and digital camera formats, working within the chemical and digital darkrooms, working on location and in the studio. Theoretical modules introduce and instigate essential historical and contemporary contextual understanding and debate.

In year 3 students are expected to be at a stage where they are taking more independent direction of their practice and their destination. The acquired theoretical, contextual and technical knowledge gained and established through previous years will have informed individual direction with regards to practice and purpose.

On graduation you can expect to be in a position where you are able to establish your own practice across a range of photographic activity such as photo journalism, travel, corporate identity, industrial, architectural, scientific, medical, advertising and fashion, exhibition and book publication. A range of non practical options also exist such as studio management, gallery and arts management and journalism.

Minimum age 18
Successful portfolio interview
200 UCAS Tariff Points
Mature Students with related experience

English as a second language: IELTS score 6.0 or equivalent on enrolment

All applications to our Full Time Higher Education courses should be made via UCAS – for more details on how to apply, click here