Photography
Georgia Plomer – BA (Hons) Fashion Photography UCA Rochester
Curtis Parratt – BA (Hons) Photography UCA Farnham
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Foreword Stacey Chambers – BA (Hons) Photography UCA Rochester
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As the number one Specialist University for the Creative Industries in the UK (The Complete University Guide 2018) and ranked in the top 10 for Film and Photography in the UK (the Guardian University Guide 2018), we’re proud to offer you an inspiring learning environment here at UCA. The Photography courses at UCA 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 prestigious venues including the Royal Academy, Hayward Gallery and Guildhall Art 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. Dr Terry Perk Associate Head of School, Fine Art & Photography
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Find the right course for you
We offer several courses in photography.
BA (Hons) Fashion Photography – UCA Rochester On this course, you’ll be given the knowledge and facilities to explore your areas of interest, in order to establish your unique voice and a sustainable photographic practice. We create a supportive and professional environment that encourages independent learning and experimental approaches to fashion photography. We encourage students to approach their practice in new, interesting ways to become visually literate and conscientious contributors to our increasingly image-led world. You’ll have opportunities to work with other students in our School of Fashion to develop exciting, unique briefs. Led by our team of experienced, research-active academics and professionals, you’ll produce fresh, highly creative and provocative work for both course and independent projects.
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BA (Hons) Photography (3 and 4 year routes available) – UCA Farnham With a distinguished history stretching back over 60 years, this course encourages students to develop experimental and innovative approaches towards the photographic medium. Studying Photography enables you to explore a variety of photographic practices through a range of contemporary and historical critical contexts. As a member of this photographic community of internationally renowned practicing artists and photographers, you will have access to a wide range of both digital and analogue facilities, including black and white/colour darkrooms and film processing, digital processing and editing suites, photographic studios, and various digital and film cameras, lenses and lighting equipment. Through various workshops,torials, lectures and seminars, you’ll be given freedom to develop your own practice, incorporating historical and contemporary approaches to fine tune your creativity.
BA (Hons) Photography – UCA Rochester 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. High-profile guest lecturers, workshops, portfolio reviews and the opportunity to work on live projects position this course and its graduates competitively in the working environment after graduation. We ignite your passion to create work and collaborate on both course-related and personal projects, allowing you to make use of our extensive department, campus, national and international connections, and our experienced, widely exhibited and published team of research-active academics and technical staff. Our extensive photography facilities include two studios, digital suites, film processing resources and darkrooms.
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Henry Maxfield – BA (Hons) Photography UCA Farnham
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We create careers
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Whether you enjoy a handson 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. 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.
Agata Sidorczuk – BA (Hons) Photography UCA Rochester
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. 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 is the number one specialist creative university (Complete University Guide 2018 and The Guardian University Guide 2018), and we have a proud tradition of supporting students and equipping them with everything they need to thrive in the workplace. 94.6% of our students find employment or go on to further study within the first six months after graduating.
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Portfolio advice
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What is a portfolio? – A portfolio is a collection of your work that demonstrates a range of skills and creative talent. It’s your opportunity to showcase your individuality, creativity, inspirations and artistic abilities, and is 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 the 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. This will demonstrate good organisational skills and your own artistic awareness. It should exhibit your creative journey, thinking processes and individual personality, so we can assess your potential. It’s also important to show both your inspirations and aspirations, as your portfolio should say a lot about you and your creative identity, as well as the course you’re applying to.
Tommaso Montino – BA (Hons) Fashion Photography UCA Rochester
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, allowing us to gain insight into your creative thought processes and approach to your subject, and demonstrating a clear rationale. Make sure your portfolio is well presented. Remember, our tutors will only have a short amount of time to look through each portfolio, so you need to organise your work intelligently. Generally, we would recommend that you include between 10 and 25 pieces of work in your portfolio, neatly mounted on white or off-white paper in either landscape or portrait format (not a mixture of both). Put some of your most attention-grabbing and interesting work at the front and lead the viewer through your journey by exhibiting pieces of work that showcase a variety of skills, materials, techniques and influences – this might include paintings, drawings, photography, digital pieces, storyboards, animation images or written work. If you include moving image work, we would recommend a maximum of two minutes’ running time. Highlight your favourite pieces too, and indicate what or who inspires you.
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
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Graduate profile I chose UCA because I wanted to move away from home and adventure 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. I attended an Open Day which definitely swayed my decision to attend UCA – visiting the university, seeing the course facilities and the campus, and exploring Farnham. I felt in the right place. 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 felt 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 photography offers me.
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Having the opportunity to be so ambitious and free with our photography has to be 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 about and motivated to develop. The academic staff are 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, 2017
The university offers a wide range of great facilities and resources. The library is a really good working environment with really helpful staff always on hand. For photography in particular there’s a lot to offer, including studios, darkrooms, the book room and hiring equipment from stores – the staff there are really helpful and always try to accommodate you with any equipment you need. I highly recommend utilising all these facilities and resources as much as you can over the three-year study because once you leave, most likely these types of facilities won't be available to you. Taking any opportunity to go into the studio late one evening, or spending an afternoon learning a new piece of software is so beneficial. It not only develops your knowledge, but you can apply these skills to your CV for employment applications. Throughout university I have been a part of the netball team which has been one of the best decisions I made. Being a part of an external group not only developed my confidence and kept me fit, but I made some great friendships which have supplemented my whole university experience.
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Graduate profile
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Agata Sidorczuk – BA (Hons) Photography UCA Rochester, 2017
Tell us a bit about your work. – My final project was based on the subject of grief; I had a very scientific approach to the subject because during the second year of my studies I sadly lost my dad, who passed away very suddenly. Though I didn't live in Poland anymore, one of the things that I felt still connected us was going on hiking trips – which is something we used to do even when my dad became ill, so even though he was really withdrawn we continued going for our walks together. I found in his flat a lot of dry leaves, and I used them to retrace our steps and they led me along a trail we took when I was a little girl. I photographed the places we visited and because of my powerful emotions and as I so withdrawn with my grief I had a detached, scientific approach to the subject; alongside the leaves in his flat I found many photos of my father sitting alone in a forest, so I thought it would be good to juxtapose those pictures with the places I used to visit with him.
What are your plans for after you graduate? – I’m going to continue my studies to MA, probably at UCA – I’m considering doing a Fine Art MA at Canterbury.
What was your favourite thing about studying at UCA? – I like the fact that when I came here for an interview it was a very friendly environment and I really liked that. I remember my interview, and it was the only place I applied to which during the interview actually gave me advice regarding my portfolio, which meant a lot. I remember the staff at the interview, how helpful they were even though they didn't have to advise me – I even received a reading list, it was brilliant! I was just smitten by the people here, and that's why I chose here and I have loved the experience.
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Graduate profile Tell us a bit about your project. – My project is about how we are affecting the environment, but I wanted to use human models, rather than the animals or the actual environment you usually see. By using a model, I thought it would grab people’s attention more, seeing the destruction that’s happening and the distress, as people don’t see that emotion necessarily with the environment, or the animal, they just sort of push it aside – ‘it’s just a bird that’s covered in oil and that’s going to die’. In this situation, we’ve got a human, in the dramatic lighting, and people are looking it asking ‘what’s going on?’. I thought this image was the most dramatic, and it needed to be printed on a big scale, I wanted it almost like a poster, like the campaigns on billboards or buses in London to try and get people’s attention.
What’s your plan after university? – I’m into field sport photography, so I want to try and build my name in that industry. Some people know exactly what they want to do from day one and some people just need a bit more time to find their path.
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Stephanie Morrison – BA (Hons) Photography UCA Farnham, 2017
What’s been your favourite thing about UCA? – I really enjoyed developing my skills and finding out what I’m good at. I feel like I’ve really developed here and learned a lot. My photography has improved so much – I didn’t really know much at all before I came here; I did art and design at college, I didn’t actually do a photography course so it was all self-taught, and then I came here and really pushed myself. That’s what the tutors are really good for, they actually push you out of your comfort zone which is good for you as you find out where your work is actually going to go.
Tommy Dobson – BA (Hons) Photography UCA Rochester
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Course leaders
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Matt Lindsey – BA (Hons) Photography UCA Farnham 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 meta-discourse 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, published by Wiley-Blackwell in 2016.
Heike Löwenstein – BA (Hons) Photography, BA (Hons) Fashion Photography UCA Rochester Heike Lowenstein leads our BA (Hons) Fashion Photography and BA (Hons) Photography courses at UCA Rochester. Heike is a photographer, educator and researcher. Before taking up the position as Course Leader for Photography at UCA Rochester, she had a 13-year academic career working and teaching photography in London, Glasgow, Blackpool, Suffolk and Derby. Heike had a successful career as a photographer in Berlin and London from 1989-2004 working with numerous national and international clients such as Stern, OTIS, Dorling Kindersley and BMW. She has exhibited in solo and group shows in Berlin, London, Glasgow, New York, China, Dresden and Arles between 1993 and 2016. Heike’s photography interrogates the meaning of place and how that impacts the representation of identity. Her work has also been published in several books.
Heike recently held a Work in Progress exhibition of the project ‘Shingle Street’ at the Foyer Gallery at UCA, with further shows scheduled for 2017/18 in New York. Working with a panoramic camera, she creates a 360-degree image, pushing beyond the normal limits of the frame, adding a depth and detail that contextually defines the relationship between environment and self. She has been photographing the coastal community of Shingle Street in Suffolk, intrigued by what was a quintessential English fishing village but is now a mix of people, most of whom have come because they seek the isolated location and landscape, despite its exposure to climate change. The images were displayed in and on a rotunda-like structure, referencing the historic panorama to fully immerse the viewer in the phenomenological experience of place. Heike also leads the MA Photography course and the new MA Fashion Photography course at Rochester, and is currently working on a collaborative project with her mother and researching into two other projects.
Heike has an MA in Hypermedia Studies with merit from the University of Westminster. She studied photography at the Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photographie in Munich from 1986 to 1988. 19
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Antoanet Dimitrova – BA (Hons) Photography UCA Rochester
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We create Photography Studios UCA Rochester
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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. Both campuses benefit from: – High-level technical support from academics and technical staff – Dedicated virtual learning environment with 24-hour access – Comprehensive library with printed and e-resources – Dedicated digital labs for open access and teaching.
Farnham – 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. Our resources on campus include:
Rochester – As well as specialist studios, equipment and software, UCA Rochester boasts a wide range of facilities to help you realise your creative visions. Facilities at UCA Rochester comprise: – Two large, fully-equipped photographic studios – Access and loan of HD video cameras, digital and analogue SLR, and medium and large format cameras – Access and loan of professional studio and location flash equipment – Colour and black and white film processing and darkrooms – Dedicated area with A2 and large format printers, and high specification scanners. Please note, access to each campus and its resources can sometimes depend on the campus you choose to study at (for example, if you study at one campus, you may be using the facilities at that campus but not always at others – this depends on your course).
– IT suites fully equipped with both PCs and Macs for graphic design and general work – 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 – Dedicated photography studios and darkrooms – Scanning and printing facilities – Access to industry design software – Access to the Media Resource Centre for printing and publishing.
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Graduate profile Tell us a bit about your project. – It’s 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 I learned how to do advertising photography and during my dissertation I learned about colour theory, so I’ve incorporated the two to become one project. What is it that you discovered about advertising photography – what makes it so different to everything else you’ve been looking at? – If you walk around here it’s the only one that’s different to everyone else’s. It still has a conceptual element but it’s more visually striking, I feel, that other people’s. It’s also really highly technical, the stuff that I had to teach myself was complicated, bearing in mind I hadn’t really worked in the studio for the first two years. What is your plan for after you leave university? –
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I have my long term goals and my shortterm, and my short-term is advertising photographer. I’m hoping to go back to Stiletto Retouching, where I did my work experience to do a bit of retouching there and there are also a few contacts that I could possibly get into the industry with.
Tommy Dobson – BA (Hons) Photography UCA Rochester, 2017
I learned advertising photography from the retouching side through to the back end version, which is a little backwards but I learned how photographs are pieced together rather than how they’re actually taken, so it gave me a different insight – to look at a photo as composites rather than as individual images, how to make the one piece. It’s a very different insight. Looking forward, I’m going to take it further into my actual career hopefully assisting [Stiletto Retouching] more, making a name for myself as an assistant and being able to take on my own jobs. What was your favourite thing about studying at UCA? – Here at UCA it’s 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 take a 54 camera out or you can go get a Hasselblad. It has the best of both worlds.
Next steps
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
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