Photography - BA(Hons)

Across all three years of the course, Professional Practice/Work Experience modules allow you to explore and effectively engage with industry and professional outcomes as an emerging practitioner.

Year 1

You will be introduced to a range of practical and academic skills to broaden and deepen your knowledge of photography and your own approach to the medium. You will take project modules alongside practical workshops including digital and film camera use, film processing, black and white and colour printing, location lighting, studio practice, Photoshop, video, software for page layout, silk-screen printing, lithography and other specialist print disciplines.

A Professional Practice and Work Experience module enables students to begin to locate the context of their own practice, hear from professional practitioners and find out about future career options.

You will study the following compulsory modules:

• Introduction to Photography
• Exploring Practice in Photography
• Critical Perspectives
• Professional Practice and Work Experience 1

Year 2

You will further develop your creative practice through tutorial-led project work, which becomes ever more self-directed as the course progresses. In the second semester, you will be given the opportunity to concentrate on the production of moving image work and to develop your still image project work.

The Professional Practice and Work Experience module at level 2 provides a series of structured lectures and events designed to help you explore your potential for employment and future professional practice. All students exhibit their work within UWE and at external locations and are encouraged to undertake work placements and live projects. There is the opportunity to undertake an international exchange programme at one of our partner institutions in Europe or further afield.

You will study the following compulsory modules:

• Developing Practice in Photography
• Creative Analysis
• Professional Practice and Work Experience 2

plus one of the following optional modules:

• Developing Practice in Photography 2
• International Exchange

Final Year

You will undertake self-directed project and research work that reflects your own ambitions beyond undergraduate study. This will be negotiated with and supported by the academic staff. You will be expected to combine your creative practice with a high level of critical reflection culminating in the presentation of a substantial body of creative work. This will be underpinned by academic research into the professional and critical contexts for the work.

Your portfolio (where appropriate) will be further developed to meet the high requirements of professional practice but as well as working autonomously you will be expected to work co-operatively with your peer group involving yourself in peer-evaluation and any group exhibition of your degree work. The Professional Practice and Work Experience module in Year 3 focuses on self-promotion and readiness for employment.

Visual Culture lectures and seminars will allow students to locate their practice within the context of photographic practices and the wider creative industries.

You will study the following compulsory modules:

• Preparation for Extended Study in Photography
• Extended Study in Photography
• Independent Research Project
• Professional Practice and Work Experience 3

Please note this structure is for the full-time course delivery only. For part-time delivery, the same modules will be studied. However, the structure will differ.

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 will inform you.

Most of the learning that you do will take place in a course-specific environment aimed at project related outcomes organised into specific modules. Teaching sessions include workshops, seminars, group and individual tutorials and lectures. The principal teaching and learning method used is the tutor group, which meets regularly to discuss student work and other course related issues.

Throughout the entire course you will attend lectures and seminars in Visual Culture with students from other courses on the Bower Ashton campus. This core module enables you to develop a rigorous critical and analytical approach to your own work and the work of others. It also fosters a culture of collaboration between disciplines which is very valuable to you when you leave university.

For more details, please see our full glossary of learning and teaching terms.

As well as technical workshops that run throughout the course aimed at maximising your skills base, other practical elements include the development of professional skills; such as creating and maintaining a strong online presence, personal branding and promotion tactics, costing and invoicing protocols, networking strategies, communication skills, collaborative approaches, and presentation techniques.

On completion of the course you should expect to be fully aware of the business and working processes in your chosen area of creative practice.

All modules are assessed according to the level of attainment achieved in relation to the specific learning outcomes of that module. These learning outcomes will be made available to students. A variety of assessment methods are used including assessment by presented project work, research presentations and essays. Students are expected to critique and analyse their own work and relate it to the broader context of photography and related media. Marks from modules undertaken at both Levels 2 and 3 will contribute to your final degree classification. All students must pass Level 1 in order to progress through the course.

For more details see our full glossary of assessment terms.