Graduate Diploma Photography

Content

Graduate Diploma Photography will give you the practical skills you'll need to define yourself as a leading photographer. You will be encouraged to develop a strong conceptual approach to your personal practice – to achieve a more defined identity within your work.

Building on the rich heritage of photography teaching at London College of Communication, Graduate Diploma Photography will open a variety of career opportunities in professional photography. You will gain an invaluable understanding of the photography industry and the business aspect of professional photography. The course will introduce you to key contacts and help you to build relationships.

During your studies, you'll work towards developing a high-quality portfolio suitable for presentation when approaching clients for future commissions or industry roles. In addition, you'll work on set and self-initiated projects which promote learning through discovery, interaction and response to change.

For those wishing to continue their study, the theory and research elements of the course will also prepare you for continued learning at a higher level of study.

The Graduate Diploma in Photography is taught within the Media School at LCC.

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24 September 2018

Course units

During the first two weeks there will be an induction programme in which you will:

• Get an overview of the structure of the course and the structure of each unit
• Get to know the facilities on offer to you at course, College and University level, including those provided by the Learning Resources department, Student Services and Students' Union
• Give you an introduction to the facilities for the course
• Get to know your tutors and colleagues
• Learn about the difference between working at postgraduate and undergraduate levels
• Discover the ethos of the course

Unit summary:

• Professional Photography in Practice (Photographic Technology and Applied Production Skills) (40 credits)

Through a series of workshops and project briefs, this unit will enable you to develop and utilise specialist photographic skills and knowledge to solve photographic problems. Through planning, implementation and review, and engagement with industry, you'll be able to apply your photographic skills in a realistic professional context and identify areas in which you may wish to develop your practice.

• Critical Approaches (Photographic Culture, History and Theory) (20 credits)

This unit will give you the opportunity to study major developments and critical approaches in photography. This will enable you to gain an understanding of the contemporary significance of photography and to place your own work in a historical cultural context. This unit is particularly useful to those students wishing to bridge to Master level study.

Unit summary:

• Professional Photography in Practice (continued)
• Critical Approaches (continued)
• Personal Project (Research and development) (20 credits)

Through the research and development of a comprehensive project, you will be able to recognise creative influences in your own work and develop an understanding of your own creative ambitions.

• Professional Identity and Portfolio Development (Professional Context and Progression) (40 credits)

This unit is a culmination of your previous units, offering you the hands-on opportunity to develop a professional body of work that showcases your personal identity. This is the most significant unit in that you are expected to produce a professional portfolio of work in which you'll be required to demonstrate a rigorous and critical analysis of your interests in professional photography, strongly influenced by your area of specialism.

Unit summary:

• Personal Project (continued)
• Professional Identity and Portfolio Development (continued)

You will explore and gain working knowledge of contemporary business practice, with an emphasis on operating as a freelance practitioner. The process for all units will involve you in original applications of knowledge, together with a practical ability to use and critically assess existing photographic techniques and formats. You will also, in the process of the critical evaluation of your own and others work, develop innovative solutions to creative challenges.

Graduate Diploma in Photography Programme Specification 2017/18 (PDF - 336KB)

Staff Course Leader

Adrian Mott

Victoria Ahrens, VJ Choolun, Ian Macaulay, Quentin Tyler