Photography - MA - full-time at University of Portsmouth

Overview

If you've got a passion for photography and a relevant undergraduate qualification, or equivalent industry experience, this MA Photography course is your perfect way to take your creative career further.

On this course, you'll extend your photographic work to postgraduate level and hone your authorial voice and engage with the debates that inform and underpin photographic practice. You'll have many opportunities to network, publicise and market your work outside of the University too, so once you graduate, you'll be better prepared for life in the creative sector.

You'll also have gained the knowledge and skills required to work effectively in the photographic industry or in a number of broader creative roles – such as writing, curating, picture editing and education.

On this Photography degree course you'll:

Engage with internationally-renowned visiting speakers and practitioners – recent speakers have included photographers Anna Fox, Oliver Chanarin, Maisie Cousins, Faisal Abdu Allah, Eric Kessels, Laura Pannack, Tom Hunter, Eva Stenram, Bettina von Zwehl and Sunil Gupta
Take part in study visits to galleries and photography festivals
Make use of our extensive photographic studio facilities, including: flash and tungsten lighting set ups, digital and traditional darkrooms supporting colour and black and white photography, high-end negative scanners, ink jet printers and projection facilities
Optimise and fine tune your portfolio with our powerful PCs and Macs, loaded with the software used by professionals, high-spec printers, and film, video and photography editing facilities
Get hands-on with the latest production techniques and equipment, including: 3D printing, CNC milling machines, digital fabric printing, as well as printing workshops with screen printing, letterpress, laser cutting, dye sublimation and digital fabric printing facilities
Get best practice tips and practical support from academic staff and technicians on all elements of photographic work
Have access to our comprehensively equipped library facilities, including over 400,000 books, DVDs, maps, and thousands of online ejournals and newspapers, as well as electronic resources that are available anywhere, 24/7

Work experience and career planning

To give you the best chance of securing a great job when you graduate, our Careers and Employability service can help you find relevant work experience during your course.

We can help you identify placements, internships, voluntary roles and freelancing opportunities that will complement your studies and build your portfolio.

What you'll study on this MA Photography degree course

Core modules

A question of research
Contemporary documentary practice in context
Photography major project
Proposal

Teaching

Teaching on this course includes:

one-to-one tutorials
group tutorials
lectures
workshops
independent learning

How you're assessed

You'll be assessed through:

written coursework
practical coursework

Careers and opportunities

The course may lead to opportunities in freelance photography, curating, exhibiting, assisting in a commercial photographic environment, visual content provision, picture editing, or PhD research / research-related careers.

Through seminars, project work, training and work experience, the MA Photography course will help you to engage with the creative industries of photography and its ancillary industries to be better equipped for employment and further career progression.

What can you do with a Photography degree?

The MA course may lead to opportunities in: