MA Photography

The course would welcome applicants from a broad range of backgrounds, from all over the world. Applicants would be expected to demonstrate sufficient prior knowledge of and/or potential in photography to be able to successfully complete the programme of study and/ or have an academic or professional background in a relevant subject.

Educational level may be demonstrated by:

• Honours degree (in photography or a photographic related area);
• Possession of equivalent qualifications;
• Prior experiential learning, the outcome of which can be demonstrated to be equivalent to formal qualifications otherwise required;
• Or a combination of formal qualifications and experiential learning which, taken together, can be demonstrated to be equivalent to formal qualifications otherwise required.

APEL - Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning

If you do not meet these entry requirements but your application demonstrates additional strengths and alternative relevant experience, you may still be considered. This could include:

• Related academic or work experience
• The quality of the personal statement
• A strong academic or other professional reference
• OR a combination of these factors

Each application will be considered on its own merit. We cannot guarantee an offer in each case.

For fees and funding information, please see website 

MA Photography prepares graduates to research, develop and produce an individual fine art project to a high exhibition standard. They will also have developed the practical, critical and conceptual skills needed to work at a high level in related areas of photography and media practice. The course also provides graduates with a critical and professional understanding of the contemporary photography and fine art sectors which will prepare them for a number of career directions within the arts and media.

Graduates of the course go on to be successful exhibiting fine artists as well as documentary and commercial photographers, gallerists, curators and writers. Many prefer to find ways of supporting their art practice through combining it with teaching, commercial photography or other related activities.

Graduate destinations include; organisational roles in independent and publicly funded photography bodies, curators, archivists and gallerists, art buyers, journal editors, academics at secondary, FE and university level, and PhD studies to develop their practice as research.

Alumni achievements include:

• Winners of awards and competitions such as the Sony World Photography Awards, Deutsche Bank Photography Awards, Jerwood Photography Prize, Nikon Endframe Awards, Magenta Foundation Emerging Photographer Awards, Pavilion Commissions and the Arts Council and Rhubarb-Rhubarb Bursaries.
• Peter Ainsworth, alumnus from MA Photography 2008 won the Dazed/Converse Emerging Artist of the Year Award 2010. Renhui Zhao of MAP 10 won the Sony World Photography Award for Constructed and Conceptual Photography 2010.
• Alumna Alicja Dobrucka and Renhui Zhao won the Deutsche Bank Photography Award, in 2010 and 2011.
• MA Photography alumni have been selected for major exhibitions such as Bloomberg New Contemporaries, Fresh Faced & Wild Eyed, Kay Saatchi’s Anticipation, the Prix Pictet and ReGeneration2 at the Musee de l’Elysee at Lausanne.
• Our graduates have exhibited in galleries such as Yossi Milo Gallery (New York), Impressions Gallery (Bradford), National Media Museum (Bradford) and Tate Britain.
• Alumni have had books accepted by major photographic publishers such as Dewi Lewis.
• Alumni have been included in leading photography collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.
• Graduates have gained posts as freelance curators and in-curatorial posts at places including Autograph ABP and the Whitechapel Gallery.
• We have produced alumni who have become co-founders and editors of academic journals Philosophy of Photography and the Journal for Artistic Research.
• Graduates have been taken on as assistants to the painter Anselm Kiefer in the production of a new body of work for a major exhibition in 2012.
• Some of our graduates have gone on to study academic and practice-led PhDs at the RCA, Goldsmiths and UAL.
• A significant number of our graduates teach on HE photography and fine art courses.
• The course has an active relationship with the art and photography world. Curators and critics regularly take part in tutorials, crits and workshops. In addition, we have strong links with photographers' agents, photographic agencies and art buyers in areas of the commercial sector which are interested in fine art photography.

Autumn, Term 1

• Experimental Photographic Practices (20 credits)
  This unit will introduce you to key production facilities at the College while supporting you to develop a working methodology that includes research, visual experimentation and critical reflection. By engaging in a series of briefs, you’ll develop a foundation in approaches to working in Expanded Practice, Curation and Publishing.
• Contemporary Photographic Debates (20 credits)
  Introducing you to key theoretical debates relevant to the 3 course pathways, this unit will encourage you to identify and analyse research material relevant to an individual area of enquiry and to your own practice.

Towards the end of Term 1, you’ll decide on your chosen pathway.

Spring, Term 2

• Collaborative Unit (20 credits)
  All students study the Collaborative Unit, which provides the opportunity for you to develop collaborative working relationships with other students and a range of potential industry partners. You’ll gain key professional practice skills, develop your understanding of collaborative working, and begin building your professional network.
• Expanded Practice (Pathway Option - 40 credits)
  In this unit, you’ll experiment with a range of imaging technologies, production methods and presentation strategies, and begin to develop a body of expanded photographic practice that will be the foundation for your Major Project. After identifying an area of enquiry, you’ll start to explore different conceptual and visual approaches for developing work. Your practice will be supported through lectures, workshops, and tutorials to help you develop an individual project and working practice.
• Curation (Pathway Option - 40 credits)
  In this unit, you’ll begin to develop a curatorial project that will be the foundation for your Major Project. After identifying your area of interest, you’ll start to explore different conceptual and practical approaches to curation. You will have the option to develop a curatorial project that uses your own work, work from students on the Expanded Photographic Practice pathway, collections held by UAL, or external collections, and be supported through lectures, workshops, and tutorials to develop a curatorial concept and working practice.
• Publishing (Pathway Option - 40 credits)
  In this unit, you’ll begin to develop a publishing project that will be the foundation for your Major Project. After identifying an area of interest, you’ll start to explore different conceptual and visual approaches to creating publications. You’ll have the option to develop publications that use your own work or material from collections held by UAL; to collaborate with students on the other pathways or courses; or to use work from external collaborators.

Summer, Term 3

• Research Project (20 credits)
  The Research Project will provide the contextual and theoretical underpinning for your Major Project by evidencing an in-depth exploration of your chosen area of enquiry. There are a range of possible outcomes for this unit, including a written Dissertation or an audio-visual output such as a podcast, screencast, or essay film.

• Major Project (60 credits)
  The Major Project draws together your prior research, visual experimentation, and reflection to build on the work started in your Pathway Option unit and the research from your Research Project. Having identified an ambition for your project, you’ll be supported through the research, development, and production phases. You’ll work individually or collaboratively, with opportunities for cross-pathway collaborations within the course, and where appropriate, collaborations with partners outside the University. Students on the Expanded Photographic Practice pathway will develop a significant body of practice-based work; those on the Curation pathway will develop a professional curatorial proposal and realise or visualise a curatorial output; and those on the Publication pathway will create a publication or publications accompanied by a professional publishing plan.

Autumn, Term 4

• Major Project (60 credits – continued)
  In your final term, you’ll continue working on your Major Project, with a particular focus on how the work you’re developing could exist in the world beyond the University. The LCC Postgraduate Shows will offer a staging post as you work toward longer term professional outcomes after graduation.