The University is world-renowned for the study of Documentary Photography and this distinctive MA offers a contemporary and lively engagement with the subject, ranging from reportage to fine art. You will also engage with international visiting speakers and our cohort of scholars undertaking PhDs in photography as part of our photography research centre.
The MA Documentary Photography course challenges you to explore definitions of Documentary Photography by embracing a wide range of practices, while working through real world engagement with social and political issues.
You will be taught by world-leading photographers, writers and curators through a series of lectures, seminars and technical workshops which will encourage you to develop new ways of thinking about your practice.
Qualifications and Experience
Normally an Honours degree in a related subject is required. However, if you have solid professional industry experience rather than academic achievement, this may be acceptable for entry to study at this level through a process called Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL).
Portfolio and Interview requirements
Please provide evidence of a website or any other form of digital portfolio within your application. We are looking for an engagement with documentary photography or photojournalism with a particular focus on series of images rather than individual photographs. You may then be asked to attend an interview supported by a (physical printed) portfolio. The portfolio should evidence your interests in documentary photography or photojournalism and demonstrate your desire to study Documentary Photography at Masters level at The University of South Wales.
Information on tuition fees is available on our Home and EU/International fees pages.
USW’s documentary photography masters is particularly popular among those wishing to pursue a career in documentary production and research, photographic exhibition, publishing, teaching or journalism.
Recent graduates have regularly exhibited their work and several now teach in higher education. A number are also undertaking PhD study.
The course has an eminent list of alumni now working within the photographic industry, including freelance photographers and those who have set up their own businesses.
The MA Documentary Photography course is available to study either full-time or part-time, meeting on one day per week. This means it is possible to undertake the course from a distance and alongside existing employment.
The introductory modules are shaped around a lecture programme that covers the critical issues of contemporary photographic practice, and a seminar programme in which you will develop new ways of looking at your own practice. You will explore distinct areas of contemporary photography while reviewing your own and fellow students’ work in progress. Through negotiation, you will develop a proposal for new work that will form the framework for further projects.
The final modules are structured to enable you to fully realise your ambitions for your work. A lecture programme and regular contact with teaching staff, along with seminars from visiting fellows and prominent practitioners, will assist you towards the production of a significant body of new work along with a key situating text. Students have in the past exhibited their final work at public galleries including Ffotogallery, Cardiff. You are encouraged to develop the final production of the work in the form that is most relevant to the work: for example, exhibition, book dummy or website. This is a significant step towards moving out into the wider photographic industry.
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