MA Fine Art: Photography*

Content

The MA Fine Art: Photography course gives you the opportunity to develop a range of creative, conceptual, technical and professional skills. You’ll study a curriculum carefully sequenced to deliver a dynamic student journey over three intensive terms.

In the first term, you'll be encouraged to establish a critical disciplinary fluency, effectively positioning your practice within contemporary photography discourses and developing an individual process of inquiry. At the end of the first term, you'll explore and connect arts research and discourse across a community of postgraduate peers. This will result in the presentation of bold, change-making creative proposals.

In the second term, you’ll have the opportunity to advance your personal photographic practice through professional, creative, and/or material development.

Refinement of your skills and understanding will culminate in presentation of a robust body of work and a considered proposal for further inquiry. This leads into the third term, where you will have the opportunity to realise your ideas within a supportive community of interdisciplinary practice, technical expertise, and academic criticality when completing your final project.

You’ll present your work to the public at our MA Showcase.

Throughout the year, you'll develop your understanding of enterprise within the creative industries and develop knowledge of the contemporary character and conventions of the creative economy. You'll have the opportunity to refine your professional skills, attributes and identity in preparation to succeed in an uncertain and complex cultural landscape.

The University continually enhances our offer by responding to feedback from our students and other stakeholders, ensuring the curriculum is kept up to date and our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for the real world. This may result in changes to the course. If changes to your course are approved, we'll inform you.

Learning and Teaching

Our family of MA Fine Art courses work together in an interdisciplinary learning environment. This approach nurtures collaboration and knowledge exchange across different fields of study, allowing students to deepen their expertise within their chosen discipline whilst engaging with broader artistic creative and critical perspectives.

Taught by a team with expertise across a breadth of creative practice, you’ll learn to understand and push the boundaries of discipline through technical and theoretical input. You will study through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, and studio practice, and you’ll also benefit from events with industry experts.

As you realise a substantial body of work, you will be encouraged to pursue ambitious new directions. Through ongoing portfolio reviews with professional practitioners and industry leaders, including curators, editors, publishers, producers, art buyers, agents and gallerists, our MA Fine Art: Photography students benefit from extensive real-world feedback on their developing practice. Our considerable alumni network of postgraduate photographers provides a collegiate launchpad for those graduating from the course.

See our glossary of teaching and learning terms.

Study time

This is a full-time course, which starts in September and runs for three terms over 12 months. Learning and teaching sessions typically take place over three days per week. Outside of your contact hours, you’ll have the opportunity to access the available resources.

Assessment

You will be assessed through a range of methods throughout the year including presentations, portfolio, and practical and written work. You’ll spend your last term working towards your final outcomes for the year, which includes an opportunity to exhibit publicly.

Learn more about our assessments.