First Year:
In Year One you will learn about workflow for both digital and darkroom applications. This is supported by a programme of technical workshops, academic lectures seminars. You will study the history of photography and produce a group exhibition to a professional standard upon completion of your first year.

• Introduction to a range of photographic specialisms and techniques
• Professional digital workflow and printing
• Photography editing techniques
• Shooting film and darkroom practice
• Studio and location lighting techniques
• Introduction to critical theory and contexts

Second Year
In year two you will work with moving image and produce work around a chosen subject area. This might include client focused work, a photographic publication or a body of work for other outputs and responses. This is again supported by critical investigation of how to read photographs and understand the importance of images and the various uses and applications in the world today.

• Advanced techniques and processes
• Creative thought processes in the production of images
• Moving image skills
• Story telling through visual imagery
• Critical thinking and contemporary photography
• Independent working and your own photographic practice

Final Year:
In your final year you will work towards creating a professional portfolio a written dissertation and an industry ready portfolio of work as you consider your personal independent practice and prepare for employment and/or further study.

• Project research and development
• Your dissertation or report
• Professional practice skills (including employability, self-promotion and networking)
• Your Final Major Project
• An exhibition of your work and production of your portfolio

Our school engages with a wide range of partners working across each creative sub-sector to ensure that teaching and learning are in line with the latest developments in and requirements of industry, including:

Industry Partners
Alex Schneidman, Flow Photographic
Frede Spencer, Twenty Twenty
Association of Photography in Higher Education (APHE)
Lucinda Grange, (Adventure Photographer) New York, Zurich and York

Guest Speakers
Alison Baskerville: Photojournalist
Julia Fullerton-Batten: Fine Art Photographer
Liz Smith: Photography Consultant
Martin Parr: Magnum Photos
Mimi Mollica: Photo Meet London
Peter Dench: Photo North
Pippa Oldfield: Curator and Writer
Simon Roberts: Photographer & Honorary Fellow Royal Photographic Society
Tessa Bunney: Documentary Photographer
Tim Wallace: Advertising Photographer
Yan Preston: Photographer

We exhibit in places such as:
As above &
Baltic X Fenwick Exhibition
Free Range, London
Hartlepool Art Gallery
Middlesbrough Art Week
Pineapple Black

Students have the opportunity to work with a range of companies on live briefs throughout the programme, including:
Notting Hill Editions, Publishing Books Project
AOP Student Awards
The Photography Show NEC Birmingham 2024 Emerging Artists Award
Taylor Wessing Photography Portrait Awards

Our alumni work or have worked for companies such as:
• Boo George - Editorial Fashion Photographer: Emporio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Hermes, Levi’s, Louis Vuitton, Vogue and Calvin Klein
• Peter Caton - Documentary Photographer: UNICEF, Save the Children, Greenpeace, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Guardian, Marie Claire, Esquire, the Washington Post and Le Figaro
• Lucinda Grange - Travel/ Adventure Photographer: New York Post, Paris Match, The Times, Guardian, United National Photographers Ltd
• Hollie Galloway - Photographer, Filmmaker, Art Director: End Clothing, Cannes, Sheffield Documentary Film Festival, National Glass Centre, London

Graduates are working or undertaking postgraduate training in a wide range of careers including:
• Editorial
• Documentary
• Fashion
• Advertising
• Photojournalism
• Sport
• Social Portraiture
• Photo Retouching
• Picture Editing
• Publishing
• Curating
• Education

Your portfolio is a visual statement it says a lot about an applicant and their practice. The advice below is not meant to be restrictive but rather offers some simple advice to help you prepare for your interview.

Clearly laid out portfolio, which is easy to look through. Considered quality not quantity and avoiding repetition. Good to organise into sections.

Examples can include:
1. Knowledge of the subject you are applying for

2. Evidence of visual imagery/photographs that you have created yourself

3. Notebooks/contact sheets that indicate developmental processes experimental.

4. Simple presentation – mounted black or white board is preferable

5. Series of photographs that indicate interpretation/technical ability:
• Use of light, composition, print quality, narrative, interaction with the subject, visual story, associated research and how this feed into the project – relevance, individuality, ideas, experimentation, evidence of an ability to take a creative risk and experiment.

6. Sketchbooks
• Evidence of your level of understanding photographic technique: this includes an ability to use a camera with exposure/composition/lenses, different focal lengths and work flow.

7. Written work
• Will include the influence and reference to other photographers/artists/filmmakers.

8. Digital work
• We advise a maximum of 20 images prepared and ready to view on a tablet/laptop. The work should be considered and organized, displaying the ability that you have decided to choose key images before placing them in the appropriate order to be viewed during the portfolio review. Be selective with your images that you can talk confidently about.