Photography 2019 Subject Brochure by University for the Creative Arts

Photography

Right: Giorgiana Pallamara, UCA Rochester

Cover: Georgia Plomer, UCA Rochester

Photography

Introduction

We’re proud to offer you an inspiring learning environment here at UCA. Our Photography courses are world leading and staffed by internationally renowned photographers including Karen Knorr, Anna Fox, Jean Wainwright, Ori Gersht, Steffi Klenz, Natasha Caruana, Emmanuel Waeckerle and Sunil Gupta. Staff work is also exhibited regularly at national and international prestigious venues including the Royal Academy and the Hayward Gallery. Our course at Farnham is a leader in contemporary photographic practices, stemming from a rich heritage in documentary photography. Our courses in Rochester are renowned for their hybrid fine art and commercial application, especially in relation to Fashion Photography. The high profile visiting lecturer programmes on these courses have seen them recently work closely with photographers such as Zed Nelson, Olivia Pomp, Melinda Gibson, Karen McQuaid and Mark Neville. The courses have produced a long line of successful alumni, including commercial and fine art photographers such as Jake Walters, Gareth McConnell, Leonard Freed, Jane Bown, Eileen Perrier, Chris Shaw, Tessa Bunney and David Moore. As a student on one of our Photography courses, we’ll encourage you to learn, think, see, create and play. We aim to ignite your passion for photography and provide you with inspiration and experience in this rich and varied discipline. We have a strong ethos of conducting hands-on work in studio environments. Being a specialist creative arts institution, we provide great opportunities for you to collaborate with fellow students on other courses. You’ll get to experiment, take risks and use your individuality and flair to become an expert in creating original visual work.

You’ll be able to make use of our impressive facilities and resources when you study here too, enabling you to aim high with what you seek to achieve. Workshops are supported by highly-skilled technical teams. We’re extremely proud of our graduates and their achievements – our graduate photographers go on to work in a diverse range of roles and exhibit their work across the world. As a student with us, we’ll encourage you to develop the entrepreneurial skills required to pursue your own creative vision and commercial application. We want you to receive a wide range of technical and material opportunities through your degree at UCA, so that you can really explore and develop your creative ideas. As an experiential learner, you’ll ultimately be driven by concept and intuition – setting you up for an exciting future in photography.

Find the right course for you

BA (Hons) Fashion Photography UCA Rochester

Alexandrina Cojocaru, UCA Rochester

This course will ignite your passion for fashion photography, encouraging independent learning and approaches that are both experimental and savvy to the working of the industry. On the first year of the course, you’ll be introduced to the technical equipment available to you, including the cameras, workshops and studios. Alongside this, you’ll begin to explore the concept of the image in the context of fashion through units like Styling Identity and Image Making. In the second year, you’ll build on the contextual and practical knowledge you have learned so far through the Storytelling and Fashion Film units, giving you the opportunity to experiment with your work. In your final year, you’ll have the opportunity to demonstrate your style and your understanding of fashion and creativity through your final major projects, accompanied by your thesis.

Duration: 3 years full-time UCAS code: C93/W645/R UCAS tariff points: 112

Find out more 4

BA (Hons) Photography

UCA Farnham 3 and 4 year routes available

UCA Rochester

Hayden Wilde, UCA Farnham

Holly Miller, UCA Rochester

With a distinguished history stretching back over 70 years, this course encourages students to develop experimental and innovative approaches towards the photographic medium.

On this course, you’ll be inspired to learn, think, create and play in new and exciting ways, and to create fresh, exciting and provocative work. Our diverse community of academics, professionals, students and alumni – along with industry-standard facilities and resources – makes this possible.

In the first year, units such as Narrative, Documentary Practices and Photography in Context will introduce you to the theory and background of photography within culture. Alongside this, workshops will cover studio production, darkroom and digital modes of picture making and image manipulation. In your second year, learn to solve the problems of how to represent ideas in photography by thinking strategically. Building on the critical introduction to photography practices and assumptions carried out in Year 1, you’ll consider ways of appropriating, modifying, negotiating, challenging or replacing existing conventions of representation. In the final year, you’ll have the opportunity to draw on the experience, knowledge and skills acquired so far. A core theme of this year is the major project, where you’ll choose the areas of your practical studies that you’d like to concentrate on. You’ll be provided with a range of professional and career planning topics which help you to develop your future career. Twitter: @photofarnham Instagram: @ucaphotofarnham

Duration: 3 years full-time UCAS code: C93/W640/F UCAS tariff points: 112

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Duration: 4 years full-time UCAS code: C93/W643/F UCAS tariff points: 64

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Through the Environment, Identity and Image Making units in your first year, you’ll gain the foundations of understanding the images and the processes which take place to create it. These contextual studies and critical analyses will be underpinned by practical workshops which teach you to use the equipment and darkrooms. In the second year, the focus is on finding your own specialist way of working and you’ll be encouraged and supported to gain independence. You’ll explore the concept of storytelling through photography and the manipulation of the image. In your third year, you’ll create a significant body of work as your final major project, demonstrating your understanding of the creative and theoretical processes behind photography. You’ll also exhibit your work as part of the year-end exhibitions and submit your thesis. Twitter: @ucaphoto Instagram: @ucaphoto

Duration: 3 years full-time UCAS code: C93/W642/R UCAS tariff points: 112

Find out more 5

Curtis Parratt, UCA Farnham

“ I chose UCA because I wanted to move away from home and venture further afield. I wanted to be close to London but not directly in it, and UCA projected such a quirky, warm and inviting environment which I really connected to. “ Three years ago, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and had few career prospects. I chose to study photography because it was something I was truly passionate about and I connected with the work I made. I see myself as a creative academic and I thrive off the practical and experimental work which photography offers me. “ Having the opportunity to be so ambitious and free with our photography was the best and most enjoyable aspect of the course, because it provides you with the opportunity to truly create a body of work which you are genuinely interested in and motivated to develop. “ The academic staff were very supportive and encouraging on our course. With their own interests and areas of expertise, it’s a great creative environment to learn and develop your photographic practice because there’s a constant flow of new ideas and proposals to enhance your projects further.”

Alice Andrew BA (Hons) Photography, UCA Farnham Graduated 2017

Your career

Whether you enjoy a hands-on experience or have an entrepreneurial flair, developing your creative talents in the field of photography can provide you with exciting career prospects where you can work in artistic teams or as an independent photographer. The UK photographic industries bring in £2 billion a year to the UK economy¹, with career opportunities available in all sectors from entertainment and performance, to fashion and music, to art and exhibition. Our Photography degrees allow you to explore your own creative ambitions where you’ll be taught advanced skills in shooting and photo print processing, helping you discover your own style and strengths. Our extensive facilities for both traditional and digital technologies prepare you for many careers in the industry. You could go on to work as a digital retoucher, a photojournalist, a news reporter or even a set photographer for film productions, for example, or set up your own independent photography studio. 8

With our connections to the National Portrait Gallery, the Association of Photographers, the National Media Museum and Getty Images among many others, and news publications such as 125 Magazine and The Guardian, UCA graduates have progressed onto rewarding careers as picture editors, fashion and documentary photographers, lecturers, art directors, and fine art curators. UCA has a proud tradition of supporting students and equipping them with everything they need to thrive in the workplace. 96.9% of our students find employment or go on to further study within the first six months after graduating. ¹ Source: ibisworld.co.uk, Photographic Activities – UK Market Research Report, February 2018

Portfolio advice

What is a portfolio? A portfolio is a collection of your work that demonstrates your range of skills and creative talent. It’s your opportunity to showcase your individuality, creativity, inspirations and artistic abilities, and a useful way for us to evaluate your suitability for the course you’ve applied to. It might contain design work, drawings, art projects, photographs, films, sound work, music composition, or examples of creative writing or essays. Think of your portfolio as a statement about your work – it should exhibit your creative journey, thought processes and influences. Don’t be afraid to be bold and appeal to a viewer, keeping their attention and leaving them feeling excited about your creative potential.

What should my portfolio include? Your portfolio should feature examples of your research and show the development of your ideas and projects – this should be highly presentable and well organised. It may be useful to arrange your work into themes, styles or chronological order, demonstrating good organisational skills and your own artistic awareness. Make sure you show your passion for the subject – look into your favourite photographers, artists and image editors and the other things they’ve created and worked on. Show us some ideas you’ve had, images that inspire you and photography you love. Your portfolio should exhibit your creative journey, thinking processes and individual personality, so we can assess your potential. It’s important to show both your inspirations and aspirations, as your portfolio says a lot about you and your creative identity. Documenting the development of your ideas in a sketchbook is a great way to show us how you approached the task of creating your work, giving us insight into your creative thinking and how you approach your subject. Make sure your portfolio is well presented. Our tutors only have a short amount of time to look through each portfolio, so you need to organise your work intelligently. We recommend that you include between 10 and 25 pieces of work, neatly mounted on white or off-white paper in either landscape or portrait format (not a mixture of both).

Find out more The course pages at uca.ac.uk provide clear guidance on what we’d like to see in your portfolio for each of our courses. We’ve also put together a set of videos talking you through the process: uca.ac.uk/study/portfolio-advice 10

Put some of your most attention-grabbing and interesting work at the front and lead us through your journey, showcasing a variety of skills, materials, techniques and influences – it could include paintings, drawings, photography, digital pieces, storyboards, animation images or written work. If you include moving image work, we recommend a maximum of two minutes’ running time. Highlight your favourite pieces too, and indicate what or who inspires you.

Photography Studios, UCA Rochester

Jamain Gordon, UCA Farnham

“ My experience on the course was great – there was a sense of progression and furthering of challenges as the course unfolded, but also the availability of support, if I needed it. “ Through joining this course, I’ve met a lot of peers and friends that I can learn from and they can learn from me. When I started the course at UCA, I was confident in my ability to produce good-quality work, and that hasn’t changed but since beginning the course, I’ve sharpened my skills by learning from the tutors. “ Everyone thinks that students that attend universities just love to party, and the social aspect is important, but what I really aim for is to make as many contacts as I can before I graduate from UCA. You don’t only make friends; you make contacts and that is very important to me.”

Miriam Winsor BA (Hons) Photography, UCA Farnham Graduated 2017

Rhiannon Petrucci-Joy, UCA Rochester

Ravaan Clifton, UCA Rochester

Emily Wood, UCA Rochester

“ My work is based on advertising photography - I spent two weeks working at Stiletto Retouching in London and discovered a genre of photography that I’d never done before. I wanted to progress that and over eight months in the final year I learned how to do advertising photography and during my dissertation I learned about colour theory, so I’ve kind of incorporated the two to become one project. “ UCA is so close-knit, you get tutor time that you don’t get at other places, staff are always approachable, the classes are smaller, it has the best of both worlds. It has the digital resources and production alongside the analogue side. It’s the fine line between mixing both elements; you can take a 54 camera out or you can go get a Hasselblad. It has the best of both worlds.”

Tommy Dobson BA (Hons) Photography, UCA Rochester Graduated 2017

Hayleigh Love, UCA Rochester

Course leaders

Francis Summers

Matt Lindsey

Acting Course Leader for BA (Hons) Fashion Photography

Course leader for BA (Hons) Photography

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UCA Farnham

UCA Rochester Francis is an artist and writer whose research addresses enjoyment and appropriation in fine art, found-footage film, video-making and digital culture. In collaborative artworks with Louisa Minkin and Ian Dawson, his themes of research have included online griefing strategies, critique in gaming communities, 3D imaging technology as creative documentation and the double-edged role of the artist within processes of gentrification. In his work across the fashion photography and photography departments at UCA, Francis focuses on following the consequences of thinking about photography as a technology that is used differently across a number of social practices rather than it being a coherent monolithic discourse.

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Matt’s practice draws on the technical and conceptual characteristics of a range of historical and contemporary approaches. He has worked on various arts publications, including Scope: A Visual Archaeology of Photography. Matt’s recent work focuses on forms of metadiscourse manifesting in an inquiry of photography itself as a subject. He is currently working on a project called ‘Reenactments’, and is interested in the photograph as a material object and photo/ text combinations. Matt’s latest essay, A Culture of Texts, features in A Companion to Photography, to be published by Wiley-Blackwell in 2018.

Some of his recent publications include ‘What a Body Can Do: From the Frenzy of the Communicative to the Visual Bond’, book chapter in Photography Reframed by Benjamin Burbridge & Annebella Pollen; ‘Pictures Not Homes’ (with Ian Dawson and Louisa Minkin), as part of Gestures of Resistance, Centre Romantso, Athens, 2017; and ‘How to Accommodate Grief in Your Life’ (with Louisa Minkin), Philosophy of Photography, 2016.

20 Henry Maxfield, UCA Farnham

Our facilities

Our facilities for photography include high-spec film and digital cameras, darkrooms for colour and black and white printing, bespoke photographic studios and lighting equipment.

Farnham

Rochester

UCA Farnham has extensive purpose-built facilities for over 2,000 students studying a wide range of creative arts subject areas including film, animation, graphics, illustration, fine art, photography, textiles, journalism and advertising.

As well as specialist studios, equipment and software, UCA Rochester boasts a wide range of facilities to help you realise your creative visions.

Our resources on campus include: –– IT suites fully equipped with both PCs and Macs for graphic design and general work –– Dedicated photography studios and darkrooms –– Scanning and printing facilities –– Access to industry design software –– A ccess to the Media Resource Centre for printing and publishing.

Facilities at UCA Rochester comprise: –– Two large, fully-equipped photographic studios –– A ccess and loan of professional studio and location flash equipment –– C olour and black and white film processing and darkrooms –– Access to industry design software –– D edicated area with A2 and large format printers, and high specification scanners. Both campuses benefit from: –– Extensive equipment store for the hiring of digital equipment such as cameras, laptops and projectors including HD video cameras, digital and analogue SLR, and medium and large format cameras –– H igh-level technical support from academics and technical staff

Please note, access to each campus and its resources can sometimes depend on the campus you choose to study at. For example, you may be using the facilities at the campus where your course is based but not always at others – this depends on your course. 22

–– D edicated virtual learning environment with 24-hour access –– C omprehensive library with printed and e-resources –– D edicated digital labs for open access and teaching.

Sam Gasson, UCA Rochester

Next steps

How to apply The course you choose determines how you apply – this could be through UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) or directly to UCA. Find out more uca.ac.uk/study/how-to-apply ucas.com/apply Contact us If you’ve got any queries regarding the admissions process or your application, please contact the relevant admissions team: UK/EU admissions T: +44 (0)1252 892 960 E: admissions@uca.ac.uk International admissions T: +44 (0)1252 892 785 E: internationaladmissions@uca.ac.uk Connect with us @UniCreativeArts facebook.com/ucreativearts @unicreativearts @unicreativearts youtube.com/unicreativearts #WeCreate blog.uca.ac.uk social.uca.ac.uk Join us at #UCAlive We run live Q&A sessions where you can ask us anything you like about what it’s like to live and study here at UCA. Visit uca.ac.uk/live to find out about our next #UCAlive session.

Disclaimer The information in this brochure is believed to be correct at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to introduce changes to the information given including the addition, withdrawal, relocation or restructuring of any programmes. The information in this brochure is subject to change and does not form part of any contract between UCA and the student and his/her sponsor. For up-to-date and more detailed information on any of our courses and studying at UCA, please visit uca.ac.uk 1035-0318