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Image by Photography MA student Joss Williams

Photography MA

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

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.

Find out about postgraduate events

Key facts

Location Brighton: City campus

Full-time 1 year
Part-time 2 years

Apply online

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

Apply now for your place

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® 2022

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

Course content

Why study with us?

  • 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.

Semester 1

  • Research and Experimentation (40 credits): a practice module designed to help you explore your own approach to practice in more depth and develop related skills in research, experimentation and critical reflection.
  • Contemporary Debates (20 credits): a theoretical seminar series leading to a 4,000 word essay considering the essence, apparatus and medium of photography in visual art and related documentary contexts.

Semester 2

  • Photography Research Project, Stage 1 (20 credits): a practice module laying the foundations and making initial work in your specialist area of practice.
  • Professional Practice (20 credits): offers an understanding of professional structures and career options in the specific area of photography within the broader field of visual art.
  • Dissertation (20 credits): a 5,000 written dissertation exploring ideas related to the area in which your own photographic practice is situated.

Summer Semester

  • Photography Research Project, Stage 2 (40 credits): developing and resolving a body of work for exhibition
  • Photography Books and Publications (20 credits): realising your project as a publication

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.

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.

  • Francis Hodgson
  • Xavier Ribas
  • Daniel C. Blight
  • Åsa Johannesson
  • Stephen Bull
  • Judy Rabinowitz Price
  • 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.

Roundme logo for 360 tour

A tour of our Edward Street building and see the foyer, atrium with computer facilities, gallery area, shared workspaces, photographic studios and photography workshop.

Our latest news

Meet us at our postgraduate events

Meet us at our postgraduate events

There’s no better way to explore your future study opportunities than by meeting lecturers and researchers at a postgraduate event.

Not sure how to prepare your portfolio?

Not sure how to prepare your portfolio?

Join us at our online portfolio advice event on 28 February to get tips and advice from students and staff about how to prepare your portfolio.

Photography lecturers work on show in campus gallery as part of Brighton Photo Fringe

Photography lecturers work on show in campus gallery as part of Brighton Photo Fringe

Come and see work by University of Brighton Photography lecturers including Martin Seeds, Zoe Childerley, Daniel C Blight and Fergus Heron in the Telling Pictures show at our Edward Street building, open until 14 October.

Brighton honours Turner Prize-winning artist Helen Cammock

Brighton honours Turner Prize-winning artist Helen Cammock

University of Brighton has awarded an Honorary degree of Doctor of Arts to ground-breaking artist and photography alumna Helen Cammock for her work in creative arts and social care.

Read more from our blog

I chose to study photography because I wanted to broaden my practical skills and develop a robust art practice that could serve my interest in the intersection between writing and photography. I was particularly interested in the course at Brighton because it focuses in the early stages on experimentation and theory, which was perfect for me as my undergraduate degree was in English literature and creative writing

Sofia Smith, 2022 graduate

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. 

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 students whose language skills do not match the IELTS scores set out here should consider applying for this course through our Extended Masters programme.

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.

Visit our language centre

For English language 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

Online portfolio

When you apply, please upload a digital portfolio. You may have a website you want to link to, or you may want to prepare your portfolio as a PowerPoint file or on Tumblr. Make sure there is some brief text explaining and contextualising the work so we can understand the thinking behind it. We are not interested in lots of striking single ‘images’ but want to see evidence that you can sustain an idea through the development of a body of photographic work, so we would expect the portfolio to be organised thematically. We would also normally expect to see 15-25 images.

Interview

We expect interviews to be online but check back here for updates. If you've already applied, we will tell you about any changes.

Gallery

Fees

Course fees

UK (full-time) 9,100 GBP

International (full-time) 15,800 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.

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 you may be expected to pay, and what is included in your fees, 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.

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2023–24.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

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 exhibition and learning facilities in the Grand Parade main building where you will also 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.

Grand Parade exhibition space

Accommodation

Brighton: City campus

We guarantee an offer of a place in halls of residence to all eligible students.

Halls of residence
We have halls of residence across Brighton in the city centre, Moulsecoomb, Varley Park and Falmer. All rooms are self-catered.

  • You'll be prioritised for accommodation in the halls that are linked to your teaching base, subject to availability.
  • City campus is linked to Phoenix halls, Mithras halls and Moulsecoomb Place.
    • Phoenix halls are a short walk from City campus in the centre of Brighton.
    • Mithras hall and Moulsecoomb Place are located on the Moulsecoomb campus, around two miles from City campus. Public transport in the city is excellent.

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

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 less than 40 minutes to Eastbourne. There are also 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.

Students talking in a social area

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.

Students playing frisbee

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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