MA Contemporary Photography; Practices and Philosophies

Master

In London

£ 5,000 VAT inc.

Description

  • Type

    Master

  • Location

    London

  • Duration

    2 Years

MA Contemporary Photography; Practices and Philosophies is a fine art photography course that explores the possibilities of both visual and conceptual expression, merging research deeply with practice. The course is rooted in the idea that photography has no self-limiting identity or essence. In creating work that is visually exciting and intellectually compelling you’ll develop as an artist with photography at the core of your practice, defining, or redefining photography as the art form of the 21st century.This course is part of the Art Programme.Great reasons to applyThe opportunity to explore photography as an interlacing of fine art, technology, aesthetics and new mediaExtensive visiting lecturer programme by leading artists, philosophers and curatorsState of the art scanning, large format digital colour and chemical B/W printingOpen environment encouraging collaborations across other post-graduate programmes (MA Fine Art, MA Art and Science)Emphasis on research as practice and on practice as researchLinks with Arts and Humanities Research Council photography network and the journal Philosophy of Photography.MA Contemporary Photography; Practices and Philosophies enables you to pursue your studies whilst also undertaking part-time employment, internships or care responsibilities. You are expected to commit 30 hours per week to your studies; your taught input will normally be scheduled over a maximum of two to three days per week during term time.Recent successesMaria Luigia Gioffrè, MA Photography alum:Winner - Installation, Sculpture & Performance, Celeste Prize 2017Open daysThe next round of open days will take place between January to June 2018. Please check back here by December 2017 to book a place online .Scholarships, awards and fundingJane Rapley ScholarshipsMercers' Arts AwardVice-Chancellor’s Scholarships:Home/EU | InternationalPostgraduate loans of up to £10,000...

Facilities

Location

Start date

London
See map
1 Granary Square

Start date

On request

About this course

Entry requirementsAn applicant will be considered for admission who has already achieved an educational level equivalent to an Honours Degree.This educational level may be demonstrated by:An Honours Degree or an equivalent academic qualification;A professional qualification recognised as equivalent to an Honours Degree;Applicants who do not meet the standard course entry requirements may still be considered if the application demonstrates additional strengths and alternative evidence . This might be demonstrated by:Prior experiential learning, the outcome of which...

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Subjects

  • Installation
  • Philosophy
  • Exhibition
  • Art
  • Technology
  • Part Time
  • Media
  • Aesthetics
  • Production
  • New Media

Course programme

Course detail

MA Contemporary Photography; Practices and Philosophies is a ground-breaking course that explores the possibilities of photography driven by artistic practice and practice-led research. Based in the world famous King's Cross campus in central London, the course is making full use of the state-of-the-art facilities to redefine photography as central to 21st century art and culture. You will nurture your practice by working across a number of disciplines combining photography with performance, installation, new media, smart technology, fashion and site-specific work. In creating work that is visually exciting and intellectually compelling, you will develop as an international art practitioner ready for work in the cultural sector.

About the course

  • MA Contemporary Photography; Practices and Philosophies is a two year (60 weeks) part-time course structured as two consecutive periods of 30 weeks each. Course attendance is three days in year one, and two days in year two. In year one we expect you to commit an average of 40 hours per week. In year two, your study is predominantly self-managed but we expect you to commit an average of 20 hours per week. Across the two years, you're expected to commit an average of 30 hours per week.
  • MA Contemporary Photography; Practices and Philosophies is credit rated at 180 credits, and comprises two units: Unit one (60 credits) and Unit two (120 credits).
  • Students successfully achieving Unit one may exit at this point with the award of "Postgraduate Certificate".
  • Both units must be passed in order to achieve the MA, but the classification of the award of MA derives from the mark for Unit two only.

Course rationale

MA Contemporary Photography; Practices and Philosophies understands photography as plural, trans disciplinary and multimedial global language that is situated at the core of contemporary visual art practice. The deep integration of theory and practice offers supportive environment in which to explore photography as form of expression that interlaces fine art, technology, aesthetics, politics and new media. Opportunities to research photography as a central component of discursive practices within the arts, the sciences and the construction of personal identities, provide students with tools to work in fields related to artistic production and the extended creative industries.

Unlike many other photography courses, this course is not committed to one notion of what photography is or to one form of media specific practice. Instead of working from a predefined notion of photography, the course aims to provide students with the tools to locate their own practice within a broad range of contemporary visual forms.

Course dates

Autumn term
Monday 24 September 2018 – Friday 7 December 2018
Spring term
Monday 7 January 2019 – Friday 15 March 2019
Summer term
Monday 15 April 2019 – Friday 21 June 2019

Course channels

Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
Vimeo
Facebook

Course structure

The course is trans-disciplinary by design with emphasis on ‘learning by doing’ and developing individual but engaged practice that spans the fields of fine art, visual media, contemporary philosophy and online and offline techniques. Through an extensive program of mentoring by contemporary artists, curators and philosophers, students are continuously challenged to examine their work in light of the current developments in the medium and to bring it close to the real world uses of photography.

Members of the technical team are working alongside lecturers and tutors in delivering a rich program of study that does not separate technical and theoretical areas but emphasises the interdependence of production with conceptual study. Students are given opportunities to explore practice as a fusion of technical and philosophical concerns in workshops which follow up on issues raised in seminars.

Philosophy of the visual image and the understanding of photography as a melting pot of political, aesthetic and social concepts are embedded throughout the course.

In the first year the students attend a core weekly install and crit of their practical work, and a weekly critical seminar where contemporary philosophy is discussed in relation to their own practice. The seminar program feeds into practice and the final dissertation that is integral to practice and jointly taught. Specific emphasis is placed on exploring New Media and post-internet as the language of contemporary art practice through focused theory seminars and workshops in physical computing, metadata, augmented reality and social/networked media.

Exhibiting forms one of the core pedagogical tools. Experimental forms of exhibition are taking place throughout the course on a number of levels, including exhibiting on handheld devices, TV screens, site-specific installations, publication and performances.

Unit One: What is practice? (in photography)

We inhabit an age in which “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold” – in the words of William Butler Yeats – but at the same ‘things’ also come back together to form new, previously unimagined configurations that are both the stuff of fantasy and of nightmares. It is an age in which dizzying advances in artificial intelligence and computer technologies are intertwined with cultural and economic extremes. The complex and challenging landscape of contemporary photography in all its aspects: post-internet, digital, networked, mediated, visual, performative, public, political is inextricably linked with this. Indeed, photography – in all its hybridised forms – is often found at the core of our understanding of ‘who we are’ in this challenging and mutable world: what we are made of; our relationship to other human and non-human entities; how we fight, play, find pleasure, take sides, make things ‘change’, make things ‘work’, make things heal or bleed, take on colour, find the beat.

This unit provides a detailed engagement with your practice through experimentation, questioning, play and dialogue.

It is organised around several key components that focus on different aspects of your developing practice. The main aim of these components is to provide you, the postgraduate student, with the tools necessary to exercise your curiosity and imagination about visual imaging. These tools will guide you in the task of finding your voice and your signature style in order to get to grips with the world of art, new media and technology, or in a word: photography.

Unit Two: Research and practice

Research and Practice is the second and final unit of the course. In this unit you will have an opportunity to demonstrate your own mastery of photography through developing an independent project as a fusion of your analytical study and practice.

The first 15 weeks focus on your developing practice according to questions raised in your project proposal and the aims of your research paper. Weekly seminars will help you to clarify your research interests and to formulate the key questions for the Research Paper. Experimental installs and crits will provide a space for re-negotiation of practice and for developing a proposal for the final exhibition.

During year two you’re supported in the production of a body of work for exhibition, and in the completion of your agreed written work. Support takes the form of tutorials, technical advice and bookable workshops.

By the end of Unit two your exhibited and written work reflects a synthesis of reflexive, conceptual, practical and professional abilities. Your mark for Unit two determines the classification of your MA award.

MA Contemporary Photography; Practices and Philosophies Programme Specification 2018/19 (PDF, 306KB)

Facilities

  • Photography

    Find out more about photography facilities.

  • Digital media

    Find out more about our digital media facility at King's Cross.

  • Print Workshops (Archway)

    Find out more about the printmaking facility at Archway

  • 3D Large: Wood

    Find out more about our wood workshops

  • Digital Access Print

    Find out more about our digital print facilities at King's Cross

  • Wood

    Find out more about the Wood facility at Archway.

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Staff

Course Leader: Dr Daniel Rubinstein
Tutor: Suky Best
Research Paper Tutor: Dr Anke Hennig
Tutor: Dr Pat Naldi
Visiting Lecturer: Jon Rafman – Canadian artist and filmmaker known for exhibiting found images from Google Street View.
Visiting Lecturer: Dave Lewis – Photographic artist and curator.
Visiting Lecturer: Jo Longurst – Photographic artist and writer. Winner of the Grange Prize 2012.
Visiting Lecturer: Alexa Wright – Photographic artist working with digital and mixed media.

MA Contemporary Photography; Practices and Philosophies

£ 5,000 VAT inc.