Photography MA

Why study with us?

• Creative and critical environment in which to practise and think about photography

• Opportunity to build a professional profile as an independent practitioner

• Fine art approach to photographic practice

• Course tutors who are experienced professional photographers and photographic researchers

• Advice on professional development

• Chance to develop a sustainable individual practice, graduating with a body of work ready for exhibition, a publication and a piece of critical writing that will help to position your work

Areas of study

Practice-based projects are supported by briefings, 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

• Experimental Practice (20 credits): a themed practice module designed to help you explore your own approach to practice in more depth

• Research Methods in Theory and Practice (20 credits): developing skills in research, experimentation and critical reflection

• Contemporary Debates (20 credits): a theoretical seminar considering how photography has developed as a reflexive medium straddling fine art practice and more documentary contexts

Semester 2

• Photography Research Project, Part 1 (20 credits): laying the foundations and making initial work in your specialist area of practice

• Professional Practice (20 credits): built around lectures from visiting artists, curators and editors and a series of workshops teaching skills in public speaking, fundraising, research and web design

• Dissertation (20 credits): between 6,000 and 8,000 words exploring a theoretical or historical topic related to your specialist area of practice

Summer Semester

• Photography Research Project, Part 2 (40 credits): developing and resolving a body of work for exhibition

• Photobooks 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 our applicant portal.

Photography in Brighton

Brighton has an established photographic culture. Photography has featured as a significant part of the Brighton Festival and has had a strong presence within the many visual arts spaces of the city. This continues to grow, particularly through the presence of the Brighton Photo Biennial and Photoworks, a commissioning and publishing organisation. Furthermore, the Brighton Photo Fringe, MiniClick and ArtsForum all organise regular events, exhibitions and talks, contributing to a lively photography scene across the city.

Staff profile

Fergus Heron, Course leader

Fergus Heron is Course Leader for MA Photography at the University of Brighton. 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 Post Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching Higher Education from Plymouth University. He is also a registered Research Student Supervisor.

His work as an artist involves photography as a form of picturing exploring ideas of place. Exhibitions featuring his work have included shows at the Museum for Contemporary Art (Roskilde, Denmark) K3 (Zurich, Switzerland), Pitzhanger Manor House and Gallery (London), Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World, Royal West of England Academy, and the first major exhibition of Photography at Tate Britain, How We Are: Photographing Britain.

He edited Visible Economies published by Photoworks and is a contributor to The Companion to Photography published by Blackwell. His photographs and writing are included in the anthology Emerging Landscapes published by Routledge. He has curated exhibitions in partnership with galleries and museums and as part of festivals, chaired artist talks and panel discussions and reviewed portfolios for artist development events and organisations across Europe. His practice-based research has been presented at numerous university conferences on photography, landscape, architecture and wider themes of place. He is also a trustee of Brighton Photo Fringe.

Website: fergusheron.com

Find out about our other teaching staff.

• Francis Hodgson
• Judith Katz
• Xavier Ribas
• Daniel C. Blight
• Asa Johannesson

Student work

Many of our students have enjoyed critical success for their photography. In recent years photography students have been awarded first place and runners-up in many of the most prestigious photography awards including the Jerwood Photography Prize, the Association of Photographers Photography Student of the Year Award, and the Guardian Newspaper Photography Student of the Year Award.

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.

International equivalencies

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

Portfolio requirements

Digital 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 portfolio

If you come for an interview you should bring a hard-copy portfolio of prints (if this is your medium). Once again we would expect to see evidence of whole projects, and for the prints to be considered – we are interested in your attention to the medium itself, not just the virtual image. You do not need to ‘mount’ the work – bringing it along in vinyl sleeves or a portfolio box will be adequate. Think hard about the sequencing and how you are going to present the relationships between different projects as a narrative. If you have moving image work you may bring it on a memory stick or disk, but it may be best to bring your own laptop. If you work in installation, bring appropriate samples and installation shots.

Fees

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.

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2019–20.

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/EU 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.

What's included in the fee?

When costs such as health or DBS checks, or use of specialist materials are incurred as a mandatory requirement of the course they are included in your tuition fee.

You may incur additional costs depending on the optional modules or activities you choose. 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. Before you apply check with the school that provides your course using the contact details in the Find out more tab (at the end of this page) for advice about what is included and what optional costs you could face so you can budget accordingly.

See our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as further information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Location

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Maps

Accommodation

University building

Grand Parade campus map