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Optograms of the Earth, Detail 49 - Ainoa Burgos Gonzalez

Photography MA

  • Intro
  • Entry
    criteria
  • Course
    content
  • Careers
  • Fees
    and costs
  • Location and
    student life
  • Stay in
    touch
  • Related
    courses

Intro

Photography at Brighton is taught within the context of the fine arts and oriented around the development of individual projects.

The aim is for you to develop a strong and sustainable artistic practice and body of work that you can confidently exhibit and publish. This will give you a strong foundation for developing a career as an independent photographer or artist, or alternatively for more commercial or community-based activities.

The course has a strong theoretical component, as we believe all students should understand how to conceptualise and contextualise their practice and communicate it clearly to a variety of audiences.

We are committed to an exploratory and thoughtful form of picture-making that represents our experiences of the modern world.

Banner image: Ainoa Burgos Gonzalez, MA graduate 2023

Find out about postgraduate events

Key facts

Location Brighton: City campus

Full-time 1 year
Part-time 2 years

Apply now for your place

Please review the entry requirements carefully and if you have any questions do get in touch with us.

Art and design courses at Brighton are ranked joint 8th in the UK and in the top 100 globally by the QS World University Rankings® 2023

Photograph from project archive Cracks and Photographs by Emma Madsen
Photograph from a project archive called Cracks and Photographs by Emma Madsen.
Image of the moon by 2019 graduate Zara Pears
The moon by 2019 graduate Zara Pears
Imrama, Cyanotype Triptych on Handmade Recycled Paper by graduate Hannah O'Hara
Imrama, Cyanotype Triptych on Handmade Recycled Paper, by 2020 graduate Hannah O’Hara
Image by 2020 graduate Samuel Horn from his project Palimpsest on locations of spiritual and religious significance
#003 by 2020 graduate Samuel Horn from his project Palimpsest, made at locations of spiritual and religious significance.
Looking For by 2019 graduate Greta Lorimer
Looking For by 2019 graduate Greta Lorimer.
I have absolutely loved my time at Brighton. I completed both my BA and my MA here and felt like my lecturers believed in me long before I learned to do so for myself. They knew how to support me to flourish into the independent, self-confident artist and scholar that I dreamt of being and never thought I could become

Martina La Trobe-Bateman, 2022 graduate

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

Degree and experience
Normally an undergraduate degree in a visual arts discipline, for example photography or fine art. Applicants who do not match this criteria but who show great potential for development in their work may also be considered.

English language requirements
IELTS 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. Find out more about the other English qualifications that we accept.

International requirements and visas

International requirements by country
Country name
Albania
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma (Myanmar)
Cameroon
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guyana
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malawi
Malta
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestinian National Authority
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Syria
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

View our English language courses

For pre-sessional English preparation courses.

Visit our International College

For degree preparation courses.

Visas and immigration advice

Applying for a student visa

Check out our step-by-step guidance.

Portfolio

Admission to this course involves reviewing your portfolio. After you apply, we will ask you to share a link to an online portfolio of your work. This enables us to see your potential and understand your approach and motivations. 

We will ask you to log on to Student View to share your portfolio link. We will not be able to progress your application to Brighton until you share your portfolio.

  • Find out about the specific requirements for your course.

Creating your portfolio
We’ve put together advice and guidance to help you create and share your portfolio and we run regular online portfolio advice sessions where you can get help from our expert team.

Gallery
Having access to the studios and a wide range of photographic equipment and the complete freedom to experiment have been crucial in developing my practice. Being around like-minded individuals and seeing a large variety of different works has been inspirational. I especially enjoyed hearing from those with more photographic knowledge and experience, it was always interesting and felt like I was receiving guidance without being judged.

Reece Coyle, 2023 graduate

Course content

Top reasons to choose this course

  • We take a distinctive fine art approach to photographic practice and encourage work that crosses technological boundaries and engages with film, video, sound and installation, performance, painting and sculpture.
  • You will be practising and thinking about photography in a creative and critical environment, working in a modern building with specialist facilities.
  • We will encourage you to engage with the latest developments in photography, fine art and wider media culture, and to constantly challenge the limits of the medium.
  • During the course, you will build a professional profile as an independent practitioner, graduating with a body of work ready for exhibition, a publication and a piece of critical writing that will help to position your work.
  • We offer guidance on professional development.
  • You will be learning with course tutors who are experienced professional photographers and photographic researchers.
Working in the dark room

Areas of study

Areas of study

Practice-based projects are supported by introductions, tutorials, lectures, seminars and technical workshops. Workshops include demonstrations in the latest digital and traditional analogue processes, involving camera use, lighting, and black-and-white and colour printing. Key professional practice sessions include talks and seminars by photographers, artists, writers and other professionals concerned with commissioning, publishing and exhibiting photography.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through Student View.

Modules

  • Research and Experimentation

    This module will provide the research tools and strategies to encourage creative experimentation. You will research and use the production process to reflect upon key elements of your own creative practice, the photographic language you wish to explore and the position of your practice within relevant photographic fields. You will consult with your peers and support each other’s research and practice.

  • Contemporary Debates

    In this module you will produce a 4,000-word essay focusing on the medium of photography. You’ll examine key issues and debates in photography, developments in the medium, critical texts, innovative responses to traditional photographic genres and contemporary issues in visual art. Topics may include stillness, temporality, the index, materiality, repetition, the archive, the accidental, the performative, the tableau and agency.

  • Photography Research Project Stage 1

    In this module you will begin a photography research project either by building upon earlier coursework or identifying a new area to explore through independent study and peer learning, supported by group tutorials, individual tutorials, reviews and research guidance tasks. At the end of the module, you will have produced an initial body of work and a digital research dossier.

  • Photography Research Project Stage 2

    This module supports the final stage of your practice-based research photographic project. You will build upon and extend your previous coursework to produce a body of work that is original, conceptually coherent and technically accomplished. You will develop the editing and production skills required to refine this work so it can stand as the centrepiece of a portfolio ready for exhibition or publication.

  • Photography Books and Publications

    In this module you will produce a photographic publication that will be presented alongside your major project. You will look at issues such as audience, narrative, editing, text, design, binding and materials and consider the changing value, function and significance of the book as a photographic medium in a digital age. An introduction to InDesign and a book binding workshop are offered as part of this module.

  • Professional Development for Independent Photographic Practice

    This module will help you develop as a photographic practitioner and explore career options in photography. As well as seminars on different aspects of professional practice such as exhibiting, publishing, networking, curating and writing, there will be a visiting lecturer series. You will develop presentation skills and create a professional portfolio and a website to give you an effective online presence.

  • Dissertation

    In a 5,000-word written dissertation you will explore and critically reflect upon a theme or set of ideas related to your photographic practice. You will demonstrate your understanding of key historical and theoretical issues in your field and may also respond to underlying issues connected to politics, identity and the environment. The research undertaken for the dissertation will normally support the development of your photography research project.

Meet the team

Fergus Heron, course leader

Fergus Heron is course leader for our Photography MA. He teaches photography practice and theory across the course. He studied photography at the Royal College of Art and the University for the Creative Arts and holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching Higher Education from Plymouth University.

He is also a Research Student Supervisor and co-leads the Photography in Practice; Photography in Theory Research and Enterprise Group. His work as a photographer involves picturing aspects of the British landscape as strangely familiar places of different natures and histories.

Exhibitions featuring his work include the first major survey of Photography at Tate Britain, How We Are: Photographing Britain and shows at the Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World; Pitzhanger Manor House and Gallery; Royal West of England Academy; Museum for Contemporary Art, Roskilde, Denmark and K3 Project Space Zurich, Switzerland.

He is a contributor to A Companion to Photography (Oxford: Blackwell, 2020) and selected The Photographers’ Gallery Photography Culture online platform Photography and Landscape (2018). His photographs and writing are included in the anthology Emerging Landscapes (Abingdon: Routledge, 2014). Edited publications include Visible Economies (Brighton: Photoworks, 2012).

He has curated exhibitions in partnership with artists and galleries and as part of festivals, chaired artist talks and panel discussions and reviewed portfolios for artist development events and organisations across Europe. He served as a trustee of Brighton Photo Fringe 2012–2018. He has presented his practice-based research at numerous university conferences on art, photography, architecture and landscape.

See Fergus's work at fergusheron.com.

Find out about our other teaching staff.

  • Xavier Ribas
  • Daniel C. Blight
  • Åsa Johannesson
  • Stephen Bull
  • Martin Seeds
  • Holly Birtles
Fergus Heron

Facilities

The following resources are exclusively for MA and BA(Hons) photography students.

  • Fully equipped photographic studios
  • Dedicated photographic computing facilities
  • A digital print bureau
  • Traditional colour darkrooms with enlargers that accept a range of negative sizes up to 10 x 8”, capable of enabling the production of exhibition-standard prints
  • A traditional black-and-white processing area and darkroom
  • A selection of film and digital single lens reflex cameras – and medium-format and large-format film cameras – to supplement your own equipment

The university’s art and design library has a well-stocked photography area and provides access to a wide range of online resources.

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Careers

Our Photography MA has led to students developing strong portfolio careers in the field of the arts and gaining considerable recognition for their work through prizes and exhibitions. Many of our students have gone on to do doctoral study or take up lecturing posts in higher education; others have developed roles working in galleries, publishing, picture editing and community projects.

Alumni include Lisa Barnard, Corinne Silva, Virgilio Ferreira, Matt Henry, Stephen Vaughan, George Avetisyan, Alexandra Lethbridge, Gin Rimmington Jones, Ignacio Acosta, Greta Lorimer, Lee Copleston, Sarah Le Brocq, Martin Seeds, James William Murray and Mu-Tien Ho. 

Fees and costs

Course fees

UK (full-time) 9,750 GBP

International (full-time) 17,900 GBP

Scholarships, bursaries and loans

We offer a range of scholarships for postgraduate students. Bursaries and loans may also be available to you.

Find out more about postgraduate fees and funding.

The fees listed here are for the first year of full-time study if you start your course in the academic year 2025–26.

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year.

UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or RPI (whichever is higher).

If you are studying part-time your fee will usually be calculated based on the number of modules that you take.

Find out more

  • Fees, bursaries, scholarships and government funding info for UK and international postgraduate students
  • Student finance and budgeting while studying
  • About the university’s fees by checking our student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

What's included

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. A summary of the costs that are included and any extras that you may be expected to pay while studying a course  in the School of Art and Media in the 2022–23 academic year are listed here.

  • Typically, practice-based courses incur more costs than text-based subjects. For many courses you will need to budget for the cost of specialist materials, equipment and printing and are likely to spend between £50–£300 per year.
  • For some courses you may also need to budget up to £100 for specialist personal protective clothing which, with care, will last for the whole of your course and beyond.
  • For most courses you will have the opportunity to attend field trips and off-site visits, for example to galleries, exhibitions and studios both in the UK and overseas. These are optional and are not required to pass your course. The amount spent would be based on location and number of trips taken, and typically range between £100 and £700 across the duration of your course.
  • You will have access to computers and necessary software at City campus and Moulsecoomb campus and at other locations across the university. Specialist equipment is provided to cover essential learning. Students may choose to buy their own specialist equipment, these may include cameras, or computers and software, university/student discounts are available for some equipment and software. Budgets can range from £50–£2,000. Buying specialist equipment is best undertaken in consultation with our academic and technical staff. This expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.
  • For some courses you will need to budget up to £200 for printing and publishing. Photography courses may incur higher costs (£500–£2,000) when printing and framing images of professional standard for public presentation.
  • Course books, magazines and journals are available in the university libraries. You do not need to have your own copies, but if you wish to, you should budget up to £200 over your course to buy them.
  • For courses in which there is an optional placement year, you will need to budget for living costs (rent, food, travel etc) in that city/country, as if you were on site at the university.
  • For some courses you will need to budget up to £150 for stationery.
  • Final-year graduation shows are opportunities to present your final, independent project work to the public. Practice-based courses will typically incur higher costs. Depending on the specific nature of your final project you will need to budget between £20–£2,500.

You can chat with our enquiries team if you have a question or need more information. Or check our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as more information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Location and student life

Campus where this course is taught

City campus

City campus is located at the heart of central Brighton.

The facilities for making and designing, the theatre, galleries, workshops, studios, archives and the independent arts organisations based on site provide a unique and inspiring environment where creativity thrives.

St Peter’s House library and Phoenix halls of residence are close to the Grand Parade main building where you will find the student centre with careers, counselling, student advice service, and disability and dyslexia support. Edward Street provides extensive teaching and gallery space for media, photography and film.

Also on site are Screen Archive South East and University of Brighton Design Archives.

Brighton Pavilion, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, the iconic pier and beach are a very short walk away. The independent shops and businesses of the North Laine and Kemptown, and Brighton main line station, with frequent express services to London, are 10 minutes walk.

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Accommodation

We guarantee an offer of a place in halls of residence to all eligible students. So if you applied for halls by the deadline you are guaranteed a room in our halls of residence.

Brighton: City campus

Halls of residence
We have self-catered halls on all our campuses, within minutes of your classes, and other options that are very nearby.

You can apply for any of our halls, but the options closest to your study location are:

  • Phoenix halls are in the heart of the city, a short walk from City campus – and from the seafront.
  • Varley Park is a popular dedicated halls site, offering a mix of rooms and bathroom options at different prices. It is around four miles from the city centre and is easy to get to by bus.

Want to live independently? We can help – find out more about private renting.

Phoenix Brewery Halls Accommodation

Accommodation for City campus is in the nearby Phoenix Halls

Student kitchen in Phoenix Halls

Student kitchen in Phoenix Halls

Relaxing in nearby Pavilion Gardens

Relaxing in nearby Pavilion Gardens

Local area

One of Time Out's 50 best cities in the world

“Brighton has… all the important parts of a sprawling cosmopolitan metropolis (connections to London in under an hour, an array of properly excellent restaurants, energetic late-night spots) … with the easy-breezy beachy attitude to life that makes you feel welcome in an instant.”
Time Out’s 50 Best Cities in the World, 2025

About Brighton

The University of Brighton is at the heart of our city’s reputation as a welcoming, forward-thinking place which leads the way when it comes to the arts, music, sustainability and creative technology. Brighton is home to a thriving creative community and a digital sector worth £1bn a year. Many of the work-based learning opportunities offered on our courses such as placements, live briefs and guest lectures are provided by businesses and organisations based in the city.

We provide support and venues for key events in the city’s arts calendar including the Brighton Festival, the Festival Fringe, the Great Escape, the Brighton Digital Festival, Brighton Photo Biennial and the Cinecity Brighton Film Festival. Other annual highlights include Pride, the Brighton Marathon, and Burning the Clocks which marks the winter solstice. Our own Brighton Graduate Show transforms our campus into the largest exhibition space in the South East as we celebrate the outstanding talent and creativity of our students.

As a student you’ll get lots of opportunities to experience these events at first hand and to develop your skills through the volunteering and other opportunities they offer.

You'll find living in Brighton enriches your learning experience and by the end of your course you will still be finding new things to explore and inspire you.

It's only 50 minutes by train from Brighton to central London and there are daily direct trains to Bristol, Bedford, Cambridge, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Map showing distance to London from Brighton
Brighton Beach sunset

Maps

City campus map

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Support and wellbeing

Your course team

Your personal academic tutor, course leader and other tutors are all there to help you with your personal and academic progress. You'll also have a student support and guidance tutor (SSGT) who can help with everything from homesickness, managing stress or accommodation issues.

Your academic skills

Our Brighton Student Skills Hub gives you extra support and resources to develop the skills you'll need for university study, whatever your level of experience so far.

Your mental health and wellbeing

As well as being supported to succeed, we want you to feel good too. You'll be part of a community that builds you up, with lots of ways to connect with one another, as well having access to dedicated experts if you need them. Find out more about how we support your wellbeing.

Sport at Brighton

Sport Brighton

Sport Brighton brings together our sport and recreation services. As a Brighton student you'll have use of sport and fitness facilities across all our campuses and there are opportunities to play for fun, fitness or take part in serious competition. 

Find out more about Sport Brighton.

Sports scholarships

Our sports scholarship scheme is designed to help students develop their full sporting potential to train and compete at the highest level. We offer scholarships for elite athletes, elite disabled athletes and talented sports performers.

Find out more about sport scholarships.

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Take a tour of sport facilities on our Falmer campus

Stay in touch

Find out about postgraduate events

Ask a question about this course

If you have a question about this course, our enquiries team will be happy to help.

01273 644644

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