Masters Degrees (Documentary Photography)

Develop a wider vision. Designed with photojournalists and documentary photographers in mind, MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography (online) will help you expand your practice and challenge the potential of the medium. Learn through a series of assignments as part of this internationally renowned programme, and join the graduates who've gone on to win the World Press Photo Daily Life Singles category and the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize.

Content

A practical, cutting-edge Masters course with an international reputation, designed for aspiring photojournalists and documentary photographers.

Photojournalists and documentary photographers explore and record human experience. Beginning with Henri Cartier-Bresson (regarded as the father of modern photojournalism), they have recorded significant moments in history, documented unfolding news and created images that have gained iconic status. Central to their work is the telling of a story through images.

This internationally-recognised course is aimed at people who want to pursue a career in photojournalism or documentary photography. The aim is to equip students with a thorough grounding in the discipline, whether through film or digitally-based photography. You will follow a rigorous programme of photographic assignments, as well as initiating and developing your own projects and areas of special interest. All this takes place within the framework of the history and development of the medium, together with critical ethical and theoretical contexts. You will be encouraged to develop a wider vision of the practice and potential of the medium through exploration of the uses of documentary and reportage photography in magazines, portfolios, gallery exhibitions, books, television, web, CD-based productions and other media.

Structure

Phase 1

- Photojournalism Practice
- History of Photojournalism and Documentary Photography

In the first week, you’ll take part in an online induction programme, using web conferencing, in which you will:

- Become familiar with the course structure,
- Be introduced to the teaching staff and your fellow students,
- Access information about the Student Union, Student Services and Learning Resources,
- Become familiar with PGNET, delivered through the software Moodle.

Phase 2

- Documentary Practice with Research Methods
- Critical Perspectives on Photojournalism and Documentary Photography (including research methodology)

Phase 3

- Major project

Read less

Introduction

Develop a wider vision. Designed with photojournalists and documentary photographers in mind, the MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography course can help you expand your practice and challenge the potential of the medium. Learn through a series of assignments as part of this internationally renowned programme and join the graduates who've gone on to win the World Press Photo Daily Life Singles category and the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize.

Content

A practical, cutting-edge Masters course with an international reputation, designed for aspiring photojournalists and documentary photographers.

Photojournalists and documentary photographers explore and record human experience. Beginning with Henri Cartier-Bresson (regarded as the father of modern photojournalism), they have recorded significant moments in history, documented unfolding news and created images that have gained iconic status. Central to their work is the telling of a story through images.

This internationally-recognised course is aimed at people who want to pursue a career in photojournalism or documentary photography. The aim is to equip students with a thorough grounding in the discipline, whether through film or digitally-based photography. You will follow a rigorous programme of photographic assignments, as well as initiating and developing your own projects and areas of special interest. All this takes place within the framework of the history and development of the medium, together with critical ethical and theoretical contexts. You will be encouraged to develop a wider vision of the practice and potential of the medium through exploration of the uses of documentary and reportage photography in magazines, portfolios, gallery exhibitions, books, television, web, CD-based productions and other media.

Structure

Phase 1

Photojournalism Practice
History of Photojournalism and Documentary Photography

Phase 2

Documentary Practice with Research Methods
Critical Perspectives on Photojournalism and Documentary Photography

Phase 3

Major Project

Read less

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 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.

If you choose to study on a creative postgraduate course at the University of South Wales, you will also benefit from being part of a vibrant international student community.

See the website http://courses.southwales.ac.uk/courses/1243-ma-documentary-photography

What you will study

The 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.

Common Modules:
The Faculty understands the importance of a strong grounding in research knowledge and skills, enterprise and innovation as part of a balanced postgraduate education.

We also recognise that each student has different requirements of their postgraduate experience.

You can choose to study one of the following three, 20 credit common modules. Each of these has a different focus, enabling you to select the module that will be most beneficial to you.

- Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship
This module aims to develop your knowledge of the methods to identify, develop and manage enterprise and innovation in the creative sector. It will then help you apply this to your own entrepreneurial project.

- Research and Practice in the Creative and Cultural Industries
The focus of this module is on the development of research knowledge and skills, while also encouraging critical engagement with approaches to creative practice. You will also explore ideas, debates and issues in the creative and cultural industries.

- Research Paradigms
This module focuses on research paradigms and their theoretical underpinnings. It also looks at key conceptual tools drawn from a wide range of subject areas relevant to postgraduate research in the creative industries.

PLEASE NOTE: Modules are subject to change.

Learning and teaching methods

Students will be taught via a range of university-taught modules.

Work Experience and Employment Prospects

The course 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.

Assessment methods

Initially you will be assessed through the production of experimental work-in progress, with fully resolved work expected in later modules. Alongside your work you will be asked to develop a perspective through written texts placing your work in its photographic and social context.

Read less

The course explores documentary practices and photojournalism as exciting and developing mediums, through a combination of practice based teaching and discussion of critical contexts.

We take each applicant on their own merit. This can include students of documentary photography or photographers in general who are interested in specialising in this area. Also welcome are artists who wish to focus their activities on a more social practice, and individuals from other disciplines, who wish to explore the subject area at post grad level.

The course builds on the international stature of the photographic and journalism departments of the University and is designed to equip you with an awareness of contemporary documentary and photojournalism, drawing on a variety of related media.

Course content

The Documentary and Photojournalism MA allows students to explore ideas of society through photographically related practice and within critically informed ways that maintain connections with the issue, yet also consider fresh visual approaches to the subject matter.

We approach photography as a social practice, situated within its own history, but also drawing on various discourses. We explore the idea that documentary practice and photojournalism may take many forms in the 21st Century.

Importantly, from your arrival, we emphasize the development of your own practice, through experimentation, critique and theory, and encourage analysis of practice through contemporary perspectives.

The course leads towards the Final Major Project, which is a consolidation of student learning into a high profile event in a central London exhibition space.

You will be taught by practising professional photographers, artists and writers, within a supportive course atmosphere. Technically, the course resources are equipped to the highest professional standards for both analogue and digital production of still and moving image.

Associated careers

We would imagine our graduate to be well rounded and confident individual with adaptability facilitating new ways of seeing

In addition to the skills acquired of photographers enabling the production of works this will also involve proficient use of a variety of hardware, software, social media, presentation and production skills. The course will offer the development of various hardskills such as:
-Curation and Management of large and small scale projects
-Direction (either within film or theatrical modes)
-Advocacy, (such as in educational or community roles)
-Experience of group and collaborative working

We intend that the student will be highly employable as a still photographer, documentary film-maker, educator, activist, artist and writer, and much more, as well as having preparation for further doctoral study.

Read less

Introduction

MA Photography at London College of Communication has created many celebrated photographers and artists around the globe. This fine art photography MA has an international reputation for conceptually driven, research-led practices. Based in the still image, an interdisciplinary approach encourages students to explore the ever-expanding boundaries of the photographic medium to develop a distinctive body of work that is contextualised within a wider critical framework.

Content

MA Photography is a fine art photography programme aimed at developing a personal, distinctive and conceptually strong practice grounded in research and critical thinking. While based in the still image it embraces cross-media and cross-genre practice. Recent alumni have won awards such as the Dazed/Converse Emerging Artist, Magenta Flash Forward Emerging Photographers and IdeasTap/Magnum Photographic Award, and have been selected for Bloomberg New Contemporaries.

MA Photography at London College of Communication is renowned for producing some of the most successful contemporary emerging photographers and artists. Part of the School of Media, the course offers a unique opportunity for photographers to develop a major body of research-based practice in the context of a critical understanding of contemporary photographic culture.

The course encourages students to work experimentally and produce work that tests the boundaries of the medium, encompassing the still image, video, installation, performance and digital media, and culminating in a public exhibition. The School of Media offers a longstanding tradition of photography education with a highly regarded research culture, and the course has close ties with the Photography and the Archive Research Centre and the Kubrick Archive, both based at LCC. Located close to central London, the course has excellent links with galleries, museums and archives.

MA Photography attracts a broad range of practitioners, from backgrounds in fine art photography, documentary photography, commercial photography and other areas of media practice. They are united by a desire to develop a distinctive personal practice with a high level of conceptual resolution. Graduates of the course go on to be successful fine artists as well as documentary and commercial photographers, gallerists, curators and writers, academics and teachers, and arts organisers of various kinds. Many prefer to find ways of supporting their art practice through combining it with teaching, commercial photography or other related activities. Students who may wish to progress to practice-led PhD are encouraged to develop their practice as research.
There are both analogue and digital photography facilities at LCC, including colour and black-and-white darkrooms, photographic studios and a Mac-based digital suite including Imacon scanners, as well as medium and large format analogue cameras, digital cameras, HD video cameras and lighting equipment. Students also have access to other technical facilities such as a 3D workshop or screenprinting.

Structure

Unit 1 - Exploring the Possibilities

Unit 2 - Taking an Idea Forward

Unit 3 - Collaborative Unit

Unit 4 - Resolving Outcomes

Read less

As part of this course you will produce a major, practical documentary project informed by contemporary debates and historical perspectives, having gained the practical skills via a firm grounding in digital video production and exploring photography and multimedia using industry-standard equipment.

You will cover all stages of documentary production - from initial proposal to final edit, learning how to research and write a documentary, and create and edit film.

Choose from video, photography and multimedia technologies, discovering new and unique features of each medium. Underpinning the strong practical element are the political, legal, moral and ethical issues informing contemporary production and exhibition.

Intermediate qualifications available:

• Postgraduate certificate – 60 credits at Masters level
• Postgraduate diploma – 120 credits at Masters level

Visit the website: https://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/courses/postgraduate/next-year/documentary

Course detail

• Study an intensive specialist course in creative documentary, focused on practice informed by ideas, with access to state-of-the-art documentary film-making equipment and excellent links with industry professionals
• Explore a unique opportunity to study documentary practices in moving image, photographic and journalistic forms with opportunities to attend documentary festivals in the UK and mainland Europe
• Develop specialist knowledge of specific areas of the media and use the opportunities presented by your project work to enter competitions and make industry contacts
• Gain a qualification valuable to anyone seeking employment in the rapidly changing field of media: with the knowledge and skills to pitch ideas, write proposals, identify sources of funding and find appropriate avenues of distribution and exhibition of your work
• Benefit from a degree that prepares you for roles such as documentary producer, researcher or director, or qualifies you to continue to MPhil and PhD research degrees

Modules

• Documentary Practice
• Stills and Movies
• Production Research
• Practical Post Production and Digital Effects
• Documentary Project A
• Documentary Project B

Assessment

Assessment is an integral part of your learning. Your assessments will follow the pattern of teaching and learning.

As you complete each stage of your production we will give you feedback and give you advice on how to further develop and improve your work so that you can take it to the next stage. We will assess both the processes you use to produce work and the quality of the final production.

The media industry expects high quality work completed to absolutely fixed distribution deadlines. We will reflect this in our assessment of your work.

Careers

MA Documentary provides the opportunity for the committed student to engage with a range of industry relevant events, this includes professional practice seminars, developing documentary ideas into workable projects and visits to international festivals such as IDFA, British Shorts Berlin and Sheffield International documentary festival.

Funding

For information on available funding, please follow the link: https://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/money/scholarships/pg

How to apply

For information on how to apply, please follow the link: https://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/course/applicationform

Read less

This course is for you if you want to develop your individual style and explore photography as a means of creative expression. You will create an impressive portfolio of work, which you will exhibit in real gallery space and disseminate to potential employers.

Course overview

Through the MA Photography, you will develop a professional base for your future career. The course is tailored to your individual interests and we invite you to share your aspirations with us at interview.

During the course, we support the development of student-initiated projects in which individuals can implement, research and extend their practical and intellectual skills across the spectrum of photography, digital imaging and video. By the end of the course, you will have prepared a substantial portfolio of creative and written work and participated in a public exhibition and a publication.

At Masters level, the specialisms of tutors are an important factor. Sunderland’s academic team includes staff with world-class reputations whose research interests fall within the areas of landscape, documentary and diaristic photography, experimental and alternative photographic methods, and span a variety of themes, from representations of femininity, subcultures, curating and exhibiting art photography with a specialism in new photographic technologies and the networked image.

In addition, we operate the North East Photography Network (NEPN) which develops and promotes photography in the North East of England. We also have close links with major arts organisations such as the Arts Council, the Laing Art Gallery and the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.

Graduates from Sunderland have gone on to work throughout the creative industries and education. A Masters qualification not only opens doors in the workplace but also helps you progress more rapidly once your career is underway.

To find out more about the part time version of this course, please view this web-page: http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/courses/artsdesignandmedia/postgraduate/photography-part-time/

Course content

The content of the course is shaped by your personal interests with guidance and inspiration from Sunderland's supportive tutors.

Modules on this course include:
Photography 1 - Certificate (60 Credits)
-Self-negotiated Research Project (40 Credits)
-Revisiting Photography Theory (20 Credits)

Photography 2 – Postgraduate Diploma (60 Credits)
-Self-negotiated Portfolio Project (40 Credits)
-Issues in Contemporary Photographic Practice (20 Credits)

Photography 3 – Masters Degree (60 Credits)
-Exhibition (40 Credits)
-Research Project (20 Credits)

Teaching and assessment

Compared to an undergraduate course, you will find that this Masters programme requires a higher level of independent working.

We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methods ranging from technical workshops, research seminars, theory lectures, practical demonstrations, peer critiques, and group discussions. These are supported by a range of guest speakers from diverse academic and industry backgrounds. You will also have high levels of contact with tutors who give regular feedback and support.

You will have the opportunity to meet established photographers and hear about their work and careers. Past speakers have included Simon Norfolk, Liz Wells, Julian Stallabrass, Peter Kennard, Bas Vroege, Michele Sank. Portfolio review days allow you to discuss your portfolio with leading national and international artists, and photographic professionals, publishers, gallery and museum curators.

Assessment methods include project reports, research files, essays, your portfolio of work and the final exhibition.

Facilities & location

The University has invested in modern facilities in the recently refurbished Northern Centre of Photography that include:
-Chemical darkrooms for colour and black and white printing. You can print from 35mm to 5x4 with a large horizontal enlarger to create extra large prints
-Separate chemical darkroom for alternative printing methods
-Digital darkrooms with state-of-the-art scanners and digital production and printing
-Photography studios equipped with tungsten and flash lighting equipment
-Cameras ranging from 35mm to 5x4 Pentax, Nikon, Mamiya, Hasselblad, Fuji 6x7, Toyo, Sinar and Linhof. We provide Digital Nikons and Leaf backs for high-end digital studio work as well as HD video cameras
-Digital suites with open-access Apple Macs for editing video and digital images
-Digital studio with video, sound editing and screening facilities
-Project spaces
-Large wall screen with HD projection for film and video screenings
-Art gallery

Arts and Design Library
Our Arts and Design Library has a specialist collection of over 120,000 books, CD-ROMs, videos, slides and one of the largest electronic information networks in the sector.

Journals and research
We subscribe to a comprehensive range of print and electronic journals so you can access the most reliable and up-to-date articles. Some of the most important sources for your course include:
-Art Full Text + Art Abstracts, which is a major resource for media and arts information
-British Universities Film and Video Council (BUFVC), which provides resources for the production, study and use of film and related media

Employment & careers

Postgraduates are highly employable and, on average, earn more than individuals whose highest qualification is an undergraduate degree. On completing this course, you will be equipped for a range of positions within the creative sector which include professional photography and arts practice, curatorial, editorial and design work as well as education.

Recent Sunderland graduates are now working in art institutions, museums, community arts organisations, Further Education Colleges and the wider media industry.

A Masters degree will also enhance career opportunities within Higher Education and prepare you for further postgraduate studies.

Read less

The Photography Arts MA is a new revalidated course, which replaces the former Photographic Studies MA (1996-2016). The programme helps you develop your own distinct photographic practice and visual research, and is designed to enable you to advance and focus your photographic practice in making new work, supported by a positive educational environment where you can accumulate new knowledge and develop new critical thinking. Students are fully supported by our internationally renowned photography staff.

In an open-minded educational environment you will be able to explore the dynamic range of your photographic practice, engage in innovative thinking and cultivate new independent creative strategies for your practice. Situated in the dynamic Westminster School of Media, Arts and Design, you will draw on extensive photographic facilities and a wealth of inter-disciplinary expertise in this world-famous centre for the practice and critical research of photography.

The course has an open definition of photography as a medium and practice, recognising plural tendencies in its definition and identity. Different modes of practice may be developed and pursued on the course, which encompasses a wide range of methods and techniques: conceptualism, expanded documentary, video, archival, fine art, experimental, installation, fictional realism, and other performative modes of photographic practice. The course encourages open experimentation in the development of new ideas and work. You will advance your practical work choosing new or traditional techniques, digital or analogue forms, or a mixture of approaches. The course champions a long and proud tradition of new and challenging photography at the University.

This is the right course if you are highly motivated, excited to develop and expand your independent practice alongside critical research. Working with our highly experienced staff you can find new approaches and forms of thinking about photography. Alumni from the course (under the former title Photographic Studies MA) now work all over the world in a range of careers as photographers, artists, picture editors, researchers and careers in the creative industries. Do you want to join them?

Course content

The course aims to develop your practice, informed by research. The course sets out to stimulate thinking through practice as a way to generate new innovative work. Students make and actively present their visual work in exhibition, book and/or screen modes of presentation to explore ideas and experiments in new methods of practice and representation. Critical research modules help inform and elaborate the contemporary situation of photography as cultural practice, whether considered in the arts and/or media environment. Excellent facilities and technical workshops support the research and practice. Students write three short research essays during the course, each aimed at broadening knowledge of photography and its related histories and criticism. There is no dissertation on this course except as an option.

The course enables students to become independent practitioners, generating new and informed work. You will be empowered with new visual, practical and critical skills that culminate in the Masters Project, which you will show at the end of the course in the degree show. The final degree show will be in central London.

Modules

The following modules are indicative of what you will study on this course.
-AESTHETICS AND PHOTOGRAPHY
-CONTEMPORARY DEBATES
-MASTERS PROJECT
-PHOTOGRAPHY PRACTICE
-RESEARCH METHODS
-THEORIES OF THE IMAGE

Associated careers

The course prepares graduates for a range of career paths in the arts, media and photography. Many successful graduates work as artists/photographers and also develop careers in related work within the creative industries. Graduate opportunities range from picture agency work, curators and as innovators of independent projects. Many also pursue careers in lecturing and teaching of photography. Graduates have a high success in developing their research work at doctoral level and the MA also has a high reputation amongst potential employers within the sector.

Read less

This course will engage you in the challenging task of making sense of the multitude of photographic images that shape the world today.

It is the first MA in the UK to combine the history and theory of photography with practice and curation in a genuinely interdisciplinary context.

You’ll explore the pivotal role of photography over the past two centuries across diverse global contexts – from the ways in which photography represents the complexities of 19th-century world views to the ubiquity and power of photography in our digital age.

You’ll also develop your practical skills, working with expert practitioners and leading photography curators.

Why choose this course?

• Learn from leading academics – in fields including Art History, English, Photography, Media, Film, History and Politics – and enjoy direct access to their cutting-edge work.
• Benefit from our exceptional links with a range of the UK’s premier photography institutions – including Brighton Photo Biennial, Tate, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the photographic Archive of Modern Conflict and our partnership networks of museums and galleries across the South East.
• Experience professional master classes by internationally recognised photographers and curators. You have the opportunity to take part in the programme of the Centre for Photography and Visual Culture, which attracts world-renowned artists, writers, filmmakers and curators.

Full-time and part-time study

Choose to study this course full time or part time, to fit around your work and family life. Modules for the full-time course are listed below.

For details about the part-time course, contact course co-ordinator Sophie Heath at [email protected]

How will I study?

You may choose to study this course full time over one year, or part time over two years to suit your work schedule or other commitments.

You’ll learn from our faculty and also external experts and professionals. Teaching is by lectures, seminar debates and visits to collections of photographic materials across the south of England.

The MA is structured for you to explore theoretical and practical aspects of photography in core modules during the autumn term(s). In the spring term(s), you choose from a range of options on topics such as: 

• technologies of capture 
• photography: documentary, politics, landscape 
• photography and 20th-century visual culture 
• the art and politics of contemporary image culture.

During the summer, you choose to either write a dissertation or develop a practice-based project.

Assessment methods include essays and practice-based projects, encouraging you to develop a portfolio of practical and critical skills and expertise.

This course is currently subject to validation, in line with our procedures for assuring the quality of our degrees. This means that some course detail may change. The validation process will be concluded before the course starts.

Scholarships

Our aim is to ensure that every student who wants to study with us is able to despite financial barriers, so that we continue to attract talented and unique individuals.

Working while you study

Our Careers and Employability Centre can help you find part-time work while you study. Find out more about career development and part-time work

Careers

You’ll gain academic and research skills as well as a crucial range of professional skills directed at working in the cultural, creative and heritage sectors – an arena in which millions of people are employed worldwide.

This MA prepares you for a variety of exciting careers across:

• photography
• the visual arts
• curating
• the media
• the creative industries.

It also provides an ideal foundation for doctoral research.

Read less

Photography at Brighton is taught within the context of the fine arts and oriented around the development of individual projects.

The aim is for you to develop a strong and sustainable artistic practice and body of work that you can confidently exhibit and publish. This will give you a strong foundation for developing a career as an independent photographer/artist, or alternatively for more commercial or community-based activities.

The course has a strong theoretical component, as we believe all students should understand how to conceptualise and contextualise their practice and communicate it clearly to a variety of audiences.

We encourage students to engage with the latest developments in photography, fine art and wider media culture, and to constantly challenge the limits of the medium. Work that crosses technological boundaries and engages with film, video, sound and installation is encouraged – but so is photography's engagement with performance, painting and sculpture.

More than anything, we are committed to an exploratory and thoughtful form of picture-making that is adequate to representing our experiences of the modern world.

Why study with us?

• Creative and critical environment in which to practise and think about photography
• Opportunity to build a professional profile as an independent practitioner
• Fine art approach to photographic practice
• Course tutors who are experienced professional photographers and photographic researchers
• Advice on professional development
• Chance to develop a sustainable individual practice, graduating with a body of work ready for exhibition, a publication and a piece of critical writing that will help to position your work

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, and 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.

Semester 1

• Experimental Practice (20 credits): a themed practice module designed to help you explore your own approach to practice in more depth
• Research Methods in Theory and Practice (20 credits): developing skills in research, experimentation and critical reflection
• Contemporary Debates (20 credits): a theoretical seminar considering how photography has developed as a reflexive medium straddling fine art practice and more documentary contexts

Semester 2

• Photography Research Project, Part 1 (20 credits): laying the foundations and making initial work in your specialist area of practice
• Professional Practice (20 credits): built around lectures from visiting artists, curators and editors and a series of workshops teaching skills in public speaking, fundraising, research and web design
• Dissertation (20 credits): between 6,000 and 8,000 words exploring a theoretical or historical topic related to your specialist area of practice

Summer Semester

• Photography Research Project, Part 2 (40 credits): developing and resolving a body of work for exhibition
• Photobooks and Publications (20 credits): realising your project as a publication

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through our applicant portal.

Facilities

The following resources are exclusively for MA and BA(Hons) photography students:

• Fully equipped photographic studios
• Dedicated photographic computing facilities
• A digital print bureau
• Traditional colour darkrooms with enlargers that accept a range of negative sizes up to 10 x 8”, capable of enabling the production of exhibition-standard prints
• A traditional black-and-white processing area and darkroom
• A selection of film and digital single lens reflex cameras – and medium-format and large-format film cameras – to supplement your own equipment

The university’s art and design library has a well-stocked photography area and provides access to a wide range of online resources.

Careers and employability

Our Photography MA has led to students developing strong portfolio careers in the field of the arts and gaining considerable recognition for their work through prizes and exhibitions. Many of our students have gone on to do doctoral study or take up lecturing posts in higher education; others have developed roles working in galleries, publishing, picture editing and community projects.

Alumni include Lisa Barnard, Corinne Silva, Virgilio Ferreira, Matt Henry, Stephen Vaughan – successful artists in the world of contemporary photography who exhibit internationally and produce challenging new work.

Read less

This practice-based course is designed to help you develop the commercial, technical and conceptual skills demanded by the commercial photographic industry. With a focus on employability and entrepreneurship you'll undertake either a work placement or a live project with industry, in the UK or overseas.

Your coursework is based upon your own research question, from which you will develop your own photographic project. This can either be self-initiated or chosen from live briefs which reflect real-life, future facing, photographic challenges and opportunities.

Key features

Develop a project tailored to your own personal interests and career aspirations.
Choose to specialise in one of three areas: portraiture and fashion, applied studio, or documentary photography.
Undertake an industry work placement or live project, in the UK or overseas.
Take part in production workshops to help develop your existing skills.
Have the opportunity to exhibit your work publicly.
Go on a study visit to at least one photographic archive.
Benefit from our staff’s international links and contacts across Europe.
Take advantage of our excellent industry links, including companies such as Phase One, Genesis Imaging, Profoto, Wex Photographic, and Calumet.
Join the 75 years’ worth of NTU graduates who have achieved success, won awards, or otherwise distinguished themselves in the field of photography.

Read less

New for 2018/19, this MFA provides extended practical training in creative documentary film and aims to provide all the technical and intellectual resources required to make outstanding non-fiction moving image. It draws on broad based anthropological and critical thinking about the social and cultural world but above all will leave you with a deep practical understanding of the craft of factual film making, culminating in the production of a medium-length feature documentary film.

 

About this degree

You will acquire advanced camera and editing skills in a context of critical enquiry about the social world. You will learn and explore diverse forms of factual storytelling including how to work with an ‘external commissioner’. You will learn how to take risks in pushing the boundaries of film form. You will deepen your knowledge of documentary film history and learn how to tell long-form stories through images.

Students undertake modules to the value of 300 credits.

In the first full calendar year the programme consists of four core modules (total 135 credits) and three optional /elective modules (45 credits) - a total 180 credits. In the second (academic length) year you complete a graduation project (120 credits).

 

Core modules

Introduction to the practice of Documentary and Ethnographic Film (30 credits)

Advanced practice of Documentary and Ethnographic Film (60 credits)

Short 'commissioned' Practical Film Project and sustained reflection (15 credits)

Research Work and Book (30 credits). The research work and accompanying book refers to preparatory work for your final graduation project.

 

Optional modules

An Introduction to Social Theory (15 credits)

The Story and I – Finding the Form (15 credits)

Time and the Staged Index – The evolving narrative of Photography and Film (15 credits)

Experimental and Interactive Storytelling – Form and Narrative (15 credits)

Documentary Radio – a practice based introduction (15 credits)

Documentary Film and the Anthropological Eye (15 credits)

The Idea of Documentary (15 credits)

Russian Cinema: Epochs and genres (15 credits)

Global Cinemas (15 credits)

East and South Asian Cinemas (15 credits)

Performance, visual media and popular culture in Africa (15 credits)

The French New Wave (15 credits)

Genre in Italian Cinema (15 credits)

Nordic Cinema: Contextualising Dreyer, Bergman and Dogme (15 credits)

The Latin American Cinematic Tradition (15 credits)

New Argentine Cinemas (15 credits)

Hollywood Genres (15 credits)

 

Dissertation/report

In your graduation film ('research project/design project') you will independently make a medium length creative documentary film/moving image story on a subject of your choosing. Pre-production begins at the outset of the second year supervised by the course tutors and project mentors. You will also produce a project diary reflecting on the entire work process.

 

Teaching and learning

All practice based courses are delivered in lectures, masterclasses and tutorials followed by supervised project work. Across the MFA you will spend significant time each week completing camera and editing exercises, building up a portfolio of work. All work is assessed, either formatively or formally, by the MFA teaching team.

 

Funding

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

 

Employability

Graduates of the programme will develop a series of practical and transferable skills including:

Solving complex problems - developing lateral thinking and creative questioning

Managing time and production flows in complex projects and effectively integrating research into film practice

Communicating effectively and succinctly

To be able to pitch and sell stories/product to potential clients

Be able to find the form best suited for a particular 'narrative, be this in media or other contexts.

Why study this degree at UCL?

UCL Anthropology was the first in the UK to integrate biological and social anthropology with material culture into a broad-based conception of the discipline. It is one of the largest anthropology departments in the UK in terms of both staff and research student numbers, offering an exceptional breadth of expertise.

Our excellent results in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise and 2014 Research Excellence Framework show that we are the leading broad-based anthropology department in the UK.

Students are encouraged to take full advantage of the wider anthropological community in London and the department's strong links with European universities and international institutions.

Application Dates

All applicants

Open: 16 March 2018

Close: 5 September 2018

Read less

This unique MA programme is based in a university but run by leading film practitioners, ensuring that you not only receive the highest-quality practice-based learning, but you do so in a university research environment where you learn to understand the world we live in. You have your own camera equipment throughout and there are two dedicated Mac Editing suites for this degree.

About this degree

Students will learn to devise a visual research project; to apply anthropological and social science approaches to documentary film work; to think critically about the relationship between form and content in ethnographic/documentary practice; using our professional level equipment, to master the technical skills needed to produce different kinds of films of different lengths for varied audiences; and to critically view and review film material.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.

The programme consists of one core module (60 credits), two optional /elective modules (30 credits) and a project/diary (90 credits).

Core modules

• Practical Ethnographic and Documentary Filming and Editing
• Students without a social science background at either undergraduate or Master's level also take Social Anthropology or another social science foundational module in term one as agreed with the tutor.

Optional modules

Students choose two of the following:

• Anthropology and Photography
• Documentary Film and the Ethnographic Eye
• The Story and I - Finding the Form and/or Time and the Staged Index
• One of the practical film-related options offered as part of Film Studies MA according to provision
• One of the film history modules taught in the School of Slavonic & East European Studies (SSEES), or Departments of History or English, (for example, Russian Cinema in SSEES), details to be confirmed
• An Anthropology or other social science module from the Faculties of Social & Historical Sciences, or Arts & Humanities
• An Anthropology or other social science module from the Faculties of Social & Historical Sciences, or Arts & Humanities

Dissertation/report

A major practical film project and diary allowing the students to demonstrate their mastery of the skills of documentary film-making in a film of 20–35 minutes.

Teaching and learning

The programme is delivered through a combination of practical tutorials, seminars and masterclasses and assessed by camera and editing exercises and a written piece.

Placement

We facilitate two types of placements. Firstly, we will enable short-term internships at the film companies with whom we already have relationships through Open City Docs. Secondly, as opportunities arise students can work on collaborative or other film-making projects, such as the Doc in a Day workshops or UCL film productions.

Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: Ethnographic and Documentary Film (Practical) MA

Careers

The programme equips students for careers in:

• mass media including broadcast, cinematic and web-based moving image
• film and TV industry as camera operators, producers, directors, editors, researchers
• academia – ethnographic research, visual media and culture
• marketing and research
• communication and other media
• archives, as well as cultural heritage organisations.

Employability

The increasing demand for social and scientifically trained moving image specialists in the years ahead will continue, if not accelerate. Many of the graduates of our existing programmes now work in organisations such as Ipsos Mori film unit, independent production companies, BBC World Service and BBC Education.

Why study this degree at UCL?

This MA will allow you to benefit from UCL’s unique position in the heart of London, and from the many activities in film within UCL Anthropology. The programme is unique in using professional film-makers to teach within a truly pan-disciplinary university research environment. It provides outstanding access to camera and editing facilities.

UCL now houses London’s Global Documentary Film Festival, Open City Docs Fest, created by Professor Michael Stewart. You can participate in the curation and delivery of this festival; gain experience in the delivery of a major public arts event; and benefit from established partnerships with world-famous institutions such as the the Science Museum and the British Film Institute.

This degree provides three strands: non-fiction cinema and reportage based documentary; a 'Mixed Realities' strand (including VR, Augemented; and interactive documentary production).

Research Excellence Framework (REF)

The Research Excellence Framework, or REF, is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The 2014 REF was carried out by the UK's higher education funding bodies, and the results used to allocate research funding from 2015/16.

The following REF score was awarded to the department: Anthropology

68% rated 4* (‘world-leading’) or 3* (‘internationally excellent’)

Learn more about the scope of UCL's research, and browse case studies, on our Research Impact website.

Read less

The MA Commercial Photography course offers you the opportunity to enhance your practice with the aim of becoming a photographer at the forefront of the industry.

This course is founded on the assertion that commercial photography is a powerful form of mass communication that can connect with an audience of millions.

Course Philosophy

What defines it as commercial is that it is conceived and created with a specific audience in mind, conscious of how meaning is affected by sociopolitical criteria. It can be utilised in a variety of ways: to stimulate commerce; promote new trends; deliver complex narratives; and inform and express opinions. In the process, opportunities arise for creative practitioners working in commercial contexts to produce innovative work.

The course is structured in such a way that learning develops systematically and with an emphasis on the independent learning abilities required for continuing professional development and the advancement of your career.

The course allows you to undertake advanced study in a wide range of areas including advertising, documentary, editorial, fashion and portrait photography. Through originality in the application of contemporary academic research and professional practices to the production of new complex work, you will challenge the accepted conventions of the genres.

By a combined approach of practice, theory and professionalism, the course will provide a challenging and stimulating environment in which you are able to develop your full potential, with the aim of becoming a practitioner at the forefront of the discipline.You will expand your commercial potential by applying genre practices across contexts; for example, the aesthetics of documentary can be applied to advertising, editorial, and fashion outcomes.

The course enables you to develop an in-depth and critically informed understanding of the commercial photography industry.You will engage with key themes in emerging and established critical analyses that underpin each professional genre. This will equip you with the theoretical understanding to progress your practice and effectively articulate your concepts through the production of advanced outcomes to specialist and non-specialist audiences.

You are encouraged to make industrial links across a broad range of organisations relevant to your chosen professional specialism. Using these links you will learn to manage and exceed client expectations through the application of your new academic understanding to the production of inventive commercial work.

Who is the course for?

The course is designed for ambitious photography graduates, or experienced photographers who wish to develop their knowledge and expertise in order to reach the very top of their field. We look for students with a passion for the subject and who are willing to take risks, and in doing so push themselves to new heights.

Whether you want to develop a strong commercial portfolio or test the boundaries of your creative practice, our photography postgraduate course offers a unique opportunity for talented practitioners to work with highly experienced award winning staff and to use state of the art facilities.

More information

You can see examples of our student work on the course gallery page.

Read less

Flexible and Independent

The flexible 26-month, 60-credit MFA Photography curriculum enables students to undertake local internships and apprenticeships and participate in international projects. The program begins with an eight-week summer session in residence at Parsons, the first of three, in which students attend lectures by and meet with visiting artists, curators, and critics. Recent visitors include Elinor Carucci, Lisa Oppenheim, Eva Respini, Anna Ostoya, Charlotte Cotton, Tehching Hsieh, Matthew Buckingham, Baseera Khan, Louise Lawler, Leslie Hewitt, Penelope Umbrico, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Mariah Robertson, Jill Magid, Dread Scott, and Artie Vierkant. In the fall and spring semesters, students engage in faculty-supervised independent study and fulfill course requirements on campus or online.

Connected to Local Practitioners

The school’s long-standing ties to the photography and art communities offer students access to New York City partners for internships, exhibitions, research, and representation. Rigorous critiques and regular meetings with faculty and professional artists help students situate their work within broader historical, theoretical, and visual culture contexts. Program-sponsored conferences, such as the recent “Photographic Universe,” bring together practitioners and critics to explore contemporary issues in the field. Annual graduate thesis exhibitions and publications extend students’ reach into art communities.

The MFA Photography program prepares students to become practicing artists and scholars who redefine the creative role of photography within contemporary culture. The program challenges students to move beyond current paradigms, anticipating and setting trends rather than following them.

This program is part of Parsons’ School of Art, Media, and Technology (AMT). Learn about the AMT community and explore our blog to see what students, faculty, and alumni are doing in NYC and around the world.

You can request more information here: http://www.newschool.edu/m/parsons-grad?utm_source=find_a_masters&utm_medium=hyperlink_listing&utm_campaign=pm_parsons_grad

Exposure to Other Disciplines

The MFA in Photography program is part of Parsons’ School of Art, Media, and Technology (AMT), which is also home to the Communication Design, Fine Arts, Design and Technology, and Illustration programs. Photography students work together and draw on the rich academic resources of The New School, including all of Parsons’ programs, for their research.

Future Opportunities

Graduates go on to publish, exhibit internationally, and work in related positions. They pursue careers such as commercial photography, editorial photography, fashion photography, documentary production, and fine art.

You can request more information here: http://www.newschool.edu/m/parsons-grad?utm_source=find_a_masters&utm_medium=hyperlink_listing&utm_campaign=pm_parsons_grad

Read less