Photography MA
Introduction
Image: Barbara Taylor, 'Disneyland'
- As a student on Brighton's MA Photography course you can expect a creative and critical environment in which to practise and think about photography. The fine art-focused approach to photographic practice at Brighton allows you to benefit from the course's close relationship with work in moving image and sound, developing your own interests through individual research projects
- At Brighton you will develop a strong professional identity as an independent practitioner. Your course tutors are experienced professional photographers and photographic researchers working across a range of cutting-edge practice.
- Many of our students have enjoyed critical success for their photography. In recent years photography students have been awarded first place and runners-up in many of the most prestigious photography awards including the Jerwood Photography Prize, the Association of Photographers Photography Student of the Year Award, and the Guardian Newspaper Photography Student of the Year Award.
- The practice and analysis of photography on the MA Photography course at Brighton aims to engender a culture fully committed to testing the boundaries of the medium and pushing at the edges of the discipline so as to develop a conception of what photography is and how it might be used and interpreted in the future.
Overview
Introduction
Situated in a city of thriving photographic culture, the Photography course at Brighton support students to become independent photographers, highly skilled in creativity and critical thinking. Additionally, the course enables students to analyse, discuss and write about photography, to think about what photography is for and what it might become, to consider why we look at, and how we use, photographs as various forms of creative expression.
Course structure
In year 1 we will introduce key photographic practices, histories, theories and techniques through a series of projects and lectures. You may also take part in study visits to photographic events. In year 2 you will be encouraged to challenge conventional boundaries of photography through a choice of themed options and to explore the relationship between photography, moving image and sound. In year 3 you will consolidate your learning experience through a major body of photographic work and a dissertation.
Areas of study
Practice-based projects are supported by briefings, tutorials, lectures, seminars and technical workshops. Workshops include demonstrations in the latest digital and traditional analogue processes, involving camera use, lighting, black and white and colour printing. Key professional practice sessions include talks and seminars by photographers, artists, writers and other professionals concerned with commissioning, publishing and exhibiting photography.
Syllabus
Year 1
Photography Practice: Photography and Identity
Photography and Place
The Photograph as Document
The Photograph as Allegory
Historical and Critical Studies in Photography: Origins and Histories
Image as Document/Fiction
Year 2
Photography Practice: Uniquely themed project options
Photography, Moving Image and Sound
Independent project
Extension studies
Historical and Critical Studies in Photography: Discursive Histories
Contemporary Debates
Year 3
Minor project
Major project
Dissertation
Professional Practice
Career and progression opportunities
Photography at the University of Brighton enjoys a significant national and international reputation. Our graduates develop careers in photography and related industries including freelance photographic practice, curating, education, exhibiting, publishing, picture research and editing. Many of our graduates progress to postgraduate study and careers in teaching and research. In recent years, our graduates have won prestigious awards. These include first place in the Guardian Student Media Awards, The S.A.M. Photo Award, two Jerwood Photography Awards, two winners of the Independent Photographers Terry O?Neill Awards, a NESTA Innovation Award and Student of the Year by the Association of Photographers. Many graduates also progress to postgraduate study with us at the University of Brighton (eg Photography MA and Arts and Cultural Research MRes).
Links with commercial, academic, governmental and other organisations
Photographic culture in Brighton
There is an established photographic culture in the city of Brighton. Photography has featured as a significant part of the Brighton Festival and has had a strong presence within the many visual arts spaces of the city. This continues to grow, particularly through the presence of the Brighton Photo Biennial and the location of the commissioning and publishing organisation, Photoworks in central Brighton.
Concurrent with this is the university's participation in Photoforum, the collaborative enterprise between key educational and arts providers within the south-east region aimed at promoting critical debate concerning contemporary photography. Key activities have included conferences held at the University of Brighton, the Victoria and Albert Museum and at KIAD Canterbury resulting in the first publication, Where is the Photograph?.
Key staff and their research
In the last few years our staff have produced six monographs, participated in over sixty major national and international solo and group exhibitions, with work appearing in countless exhibition catalogues and magazines, as well as featuring in many significant public and private art collections. During this time photography staff have been successful in achieving five awards from the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB), won top international prizes and continue to be represented by high-level photographic agencies and galleries. These achievements add up to a culture of ambitious individual research amongst its staff unrivalled in any other UK educational institution. The resulting impact of the above is the creation of an ambitious and stimulating environment in which to both study and teach and is intrinsically related to the success of former graduates.
Key facts
UCAS code
Duration 
Full-time: 1 year
Part-time: 2 years
Typical entry requirements
individual offers may vary
Location Grand Parade
For non-native speakers of English:
IELTS 6.5 overall and 6.0 in writing.
Degree and/or experience:
Normally an undergraduate degree in a visual arts discipline, for example photography or fine art. Applicants who do not match this criteria but who show great potential for development in their work may also be considered.
Fees
The fees listed here are for full-time courses for the upcoming academic year only. Further fees are payable for subsequent years of study.
The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, whether you study full- or part-time and whether or not you already have a higher education qualification. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take. Different rules apply to research degrees - contact the course team for up-to-date information.
Visit www.brighton.ac.uk/money for more information, including advice on international and island fee paying status, and the government's Equivalent or Lower Qualification (ELQ) policy.
Photography (MA) (Full time)
UK/EU (FT) - 4,320 GBP
Island Students (FT) - 8,925 GBP
International (FT) - 12,750 GBP
Meet our students - Nicky Walsh"I entered the Jerwood prize...and won in 2008!"...Read more
