Photography (Hons)

Overview

As a student you will develop technical and critical skills throughout the three years of the course, to become an accomplished, independent photographer and critically informed image-maker. Approaching photography with a spirit of enquiry and experimentation, while developing your technical and communication skills, will open up a range of creative and professional possibilities for you as a photographic practitioner.

On the Photography (Hons) programme from Arts University Plymouth , we consider the expanded and innovative potential of photography within the context of contemporary art. Our students explore a range of conceptual, practical and experimental approaches to photography in locating their own creative narrative, as emergent and highly individual, contemporary artists.

On this journey, you’ll develop creative and technical production skills using a range of media, covering digital and film-based photography, from 19th Century processes through to the latest technology, in order to proficiently express your photographic vision. You will also be able to critically reflect on your own practice and creativity and understand photography as a key visual language within contemporary culture.

Career

Alongside this, professional practice modules will provide you with the grounding in business, legal and ethical considerations that you’ll need to pursue your own career in the creative industries.

Recent visiting artists and lecturers have included Alison Nordström, Dinu Li, Nicholas White, Jonny Briggs, Anna Fox, Ben Borthwick, Jack Latham, Tom Hunter, Richard Billingham, Peter Kennard, Sophy Rickett, Sian Davey, Louis Porter, Matthew Broadhead, Aaron Schuman and Arko Datto, while the university’s onsite gallery has hosted exhibitions from Martin Parr, Suki Dhanda and Corinne Day.

The strong international connections also allow our students to take a semester of study with one of our partner institutions within Europe and North America, and in turn, we welcome overseas students from those institutions to join us in our studios, creating an exciting cultural exchange.

Graduates can become photographers, artists, curators, art or creative directors, creative producers, filmmakers, writers, academics, lecturers and teachers, online producers and more. Successful alumni include photographers such as Nicholas White, whose practice spans commercial and creative photography, while other graduates have gone on to postgraduate study and careers in the creative industries.