Photography AS and A Level

Is this subject right for me?
Are you good at time management?
Do you enjoy practical work and learning about artists?
Are you motivated in Art and Design, and enjoy taking risks with ideas/techniques?
Are you good at using your creativity to develop personal ideas and responses?
Do you love the visual arts and have dedication?
Can you respond productively to support and positive criticism?
Photography is a means of communicating in a visual way. It can challenge the way we think about the world. The emphasis of the course is Photography using creative and expressive methods. It is an exciting and highly rewarding subject to take at this level, whether you intend to study it further or not. We encourage you to be inventive, independent and involved. For most lessons you will be engaged in practical project work. You will also learn about a wide range of photographic issues through slide lectures, seminars and independent study.
You will have access to books, magazines, videos, CD ROMs and the Internet. Visits to exhibitions locally and in London form a vital part of the course. The Visual Arts Department consists oftwo light and spacious Art studios, a Textiles studio, two large well-equipped Photographic studios, two darkrooms, and PC's with Photoshop software for experimentation, image manipulation and research.
If you wish to study Photography further you can apply for diploma courses locally at City College, Brighton and Hove, and Northbrook College, Worthing. You can then go on to degree level courses, available throughout the country. These courses vary in emphasis. You will learn more about them when we talk to you about your career options. Studying Photography can lead to a number of career areas, e.g. fashion or advertising photography, sports photography, photojournalism, fine art photography, forensic/medical photography, film and television, graphic design, animation, photographic processing and printing, etc. Photography at BHASVIC combines well with Art, Textiles, Film Studies or Media Studies, but also goes well with many other subjects. We recommend you to buy your own traditional or digital SLR camera for your use on this course.

What is the Course Content?
* Studying Photography involves:
learning how to use a camera
* developing and printing black and white photographs and digital colour
* experimenting with a range of photographic processes and techniques, e.g. hand-colouring, tinting, montage, digital techniques, manipulation and printing
* presenting your work effectively to communicate your ideas
* recording the development of your ideas, techniques learnt and analysis of your own and others' work in a work journal
* understanding the history of photography and its role in society

How will your work be assessed?
AS Photography - Year One
For this course you produce 2 'units' of work:-

Unit 1 (50% of AS)
This unit explores the basic principles of photography and an introduction to the SLR camera and some digital techniques/manipulation.
It also allows you to develop a more personal practical project with preparatory studies leading to a set of finished prints. You will also have an introduction in basic digital manipulation and printing.

Unit 2 (50% of AS)
This unit takes the form of a timed test (5 hours) responding to themes set by the Exam Board plus preparatory studies.

A2 Photography - Year Two
The second year of study builds on skills and ideas developed during the AS course to produce a creative, mature and technically proficient body of work showing personal commitment, flair and individuality. These 2 'units' involve:-

Unit 3 (50% of A Level)
This allows you to develop a personal practical project with preparatory studies leading to finished work. You produce contextual studies which relate your own work to other photographers/photographic issues using visual and written elements. You will produce a 3000 word written study on photographers/artists who are informing and inspiring your practical photography work. You can work with both digital and traditional photographic techniques with no more than 50% of your time guaranteed to be spent in digital work.

Unit 4 (50% of A Level)
This unit takes the form of a timed test (15 hours) responding to a theme set by the Exam Board plus preparatory studies. In the examination you can choose any techniques and process you wish to produce the final photography work. This can be entirely traditional or digital colour work as as long as 50% of your time is spent in each. Throughout both courses you will have clear feedback from your teachers about your progress and you will be encouraged to develop your work and ideas outside lessons. Some of this will be carried out in your workbook which is a vital part of each course.

What are the entry requirements?
The general entry requirements for studying at Advanced level apply, and a minimum of grade C in English GCSE is preferred. You are advised that Photography is highly over-subscribed. Priority will be given to those for whom this is a potential career area and who apply early.

Other information
Charges are made for all courses in the Visual Arts Department to cover the cost of materials used.