Art Degrees Online

COURSE INFORMATION

The Contemporary Photographic Practice programme has been designed to provide students with an understanding of the techniques, theories, research and contemporary usage of photography, within a wide social and cultural context. Early emphasis is placed on methods and materials. At this time students are introduced to the basics of photographic history; how to read photographs; and formative critical theories related to photography. Building on this groundwork the programme then introduces students to key contemporary and post-modern debates relating to the extended range of practices open to a contemporary photographer. However, as the subject itself is continually open to change and re-definition students have an important role in defining and exploring new directions in photographic practice. With this in mind, the Contemporary Photographic Practice degree helps students to develop the range of key skills necessary to be a photographer today and to be able to fully exploit the potential of lens-based practice.

Students are encouraged to identify the subject matter of their photography projects, and in the final year present an exhibition of work made as part of self-initiated (visual) research, and a portfolio for their degree assessment. Previously, students have been supported in a wide range of projects ranging from new approaches to documentary production, desktop publishing, web-based work, digital, video and installation.

The programme is taught by a staff of practising photographers, subject specialists and visiting artists, providing an atmosphere of involved study, research into teaching, theory to practice and importantly, lively debate.

MODULE INFORMATION
To view the Module Information for this course click here

COURSEWORK AND ASSESSMENT

Teaching is through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials with lectures and seminars covering photographic history, theory and contemporary photographic practices. Student project work is developed in workshops and through tutorials.

Students are assessed on a combination of project work, essays, seminars and private study. Assessment of Years 2 and 3 contributes to the final degree award. In the third year, all students submit a dissertation and work towards an exhibition of their final project.

SELECTION
Applications are encouraged from potential students who can offer equivalent or alternative qualifications and also from mature students where the usual requirements may be waived.

CAREERS
The programme teaches key professional skills that will prepare students for a successful career in photography. Students completing the programme are articulate and well informed about a wide range of contemporary issues.

Employment is a key issue and the programme recognises that graduates working in photography will need to be flexible, imaginative, creative and possess a sound technical knowledge. Final year students are helped to gain a formative knowledge of possible career paths, and opportunities through a professional practice module that introduces them to a range of practitioners in both the photographic arts and commercial photography. Recent graduates have stayed on with us, to undertake postgraduate study, whilst others have taken up a variety of artistic and media related careers, including artist, editorial photographer, picture editor, curator, teacher and gallery assistant.

CAO Code GC 470
Points Level 2008 AQA – All Qualifying Applicants
Framework Level Level 7

Course Duration
Full-Time 3 years
Part-Time 3 years

For further information please contact the Admissions Office at GCD
Phone +353 1 415 0400
Email admissions@gcd.ie

About the Course
This visual media industry is currently in rapid change and progression. Elements like DTP and the world wide web have created a pressing need for highly trained visual arts professionals with a high level of new skills and creative artistic and communications talent.

Griffith College’s Faculty of Journalism and Media has over eight years experience in providing industry standard photographic training. The delivery of award winning courses has gained us an enviable reputation in the Irish photographic industry. Former students are now working in the field in all spheres of photographic practice and we have long enjoyed the support of our colleagues in the Irish professional Photographer’s Association. In addition, Griffith students have won seven of the eight photographic awards in the national student Media competitions between 2005 and 2007.

This BA Degree course is offered on a three year full-time basis or on a part-time version, the first time this level of study has been offered in this format in Ireland. The emphasis of our course is on commercial photography, professional approach allied to analytical skills and creative judgment. Our graduates will be highly skilled and experienced, capable of adding to the visual arts media in Ireland and abroad. On completion of this course graduates will be versed in the skills necessary for further study at even higher levels.

Progression
Further study is an option for students who successfully complete this course; the logical progression is to take the final year of the BA (Hons) in Journalism and Visual Media.

Course overview
UCAS code: Route A W640 BA/PhotoPr Route B E640 BA/PPb

Course summary: The course is largely practice-based and encourages the exploration of the photograph within a range of contemporary practices.

Attendance: 3 years full-time or 5 years part-time.

Course run by: School of The Arts

Entry requirements: Standard entry requirements apply. A typical offer would be around 180-240 UCAS tariff points or a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, National Diploma in Photography, or equivalent. Applicants who do not meet our standard requirements but who are able to demonstrate an appropriate level of ability will be considered. Students with HND Photography or equivalent, seeking direct entry onto level two or three will be considered.Applicants are invited for interview with a portfolio of their work.

Location: Avenue Campus

Assessment: Theory, through essays, assignments, a dissertation and presentations which are all items of coursework. Practice through studio presentations and exhibitions.

Course summarySubject area: Foundation Degrees
Location of study: Cambridge
Length of study: 2 years
UCAS code: W641
Entry requirements: 80 tariff points at A Level or equivalent. Required subject(s): 2 years post-16 study, Portfolio & interview
Course overview
The course will prepare students to be part of the photographic industry.

The main aims of this degree are:
to develop the technical and creative skills
to understand the digital workflow, video production and basic web design
to provide opportunities to undertake work-based learning within the photographic industry, allowing students to see in operation and practice new skills learnt in class;
to develop knowledge and understanding of a range of styles, both historical and contemporary, used within photographic practice.
to be able to contextualise their own practice
to enable students to graduate with evidence of a body of work, both hard copy and digital, which can assist in future professional advancement;
to equip students for employment/self employment in the field of photography and/or digital media and within the creative industries;
to provide a two-year Professional Photography degree which enables students to go on to level three of the BA(Hons) Photography degree or to other specialist degrees.
Foundation Degrees are new, modern higher education qualifications that combine the needs of industry with academic skills. The aim of FdA Professional Photography is to equip you with the skills and knowledge required to work in the photographic industry. This means the programme has a distinctly vocational flavour with the focus being very much on the practical elements of the field, but also allows you learn how to contextualise your images.

Course content will develop your digital skills to an advanced level, and you’ll learn to use a wide range of different cameras and formats. In the lighting workshops you’ll learn to work with studio flash, on location, and mixed lighting. You’ll also develop basic design skills for website creation. In fact, you’ll cover all areas of professional practice.

Specialist workshops and lectures in areas such as fashion, portrait and product photography, provide a grounding in technical aspects as well as bringing you up to speed with current trends. Illustrated talks will bring you closer to the work of a number of practitioners working internationally at a high level.

Throughout your studies you’ll enjoy the support and guidance of our highly experienced teaching staff, and by the end of the course you’ll be expected to produce a high-quality digital and hard copy portfolio to demonstrate just how far you’ve come. Graduates of FdA Professional Photography may transfer to the third year of the BA (Hons) Photography.

The aim of this course is to provide you will all the tools necessary to become an expert in the new and exciting field of digital photography. The degree will equip you with a thorough knowledge of the technologies involved in the production of digital images. We will teach you how to use a range of image scanning devices and software programmes, along with digital printing and output to screen based media. You will also learn about other areas of Media Studies, such as video, writing, hypermedia and digital art, and explore the ways in which they integrate with photography.

Careers
This course prepares you for a wide range of careers in the field of digital imaging, including independent photographic practice, work for web/video production companies, colour management/retouching services, fashion, reportage and editorial photography.

The Major and Minor programs in Photography acknowledges photography as a discipline with a distinct artistic and historical identity. It also recognizes that contemporary photographic practice encompasses a rich multiplicity of formal and conceptual approaches. The course structure of the program and the orientation of its faculty reflect a concern that the student receives a strong historical and theoretical understanding of the medium. The program stresses the need for students to acquire the concepts and vocabulary necessary for critical discussion of photographic work; their own and that of others. Emphasis is placed on photography’s social, as well as artistic, ramifications. Both a Major and a Minor program are offered.

The Department of Studio Arts offers programs that emphasize the importance of practical work with practicing artists. Through a series of courses in ceramics, drawing, fibres, intermedia/cyberarts, painting, photography, print media, and sculpture, students increase their awareness of what constitutes creativity and understanding of the aesthetic and intellectual aspects of art today.

Course summarySubject area: Foundation Degrees
Location of study: Cambridge
Length of study: 2 years
UCAS code: W641
Entry requirements: 80 tariff points at A Level or equivalent. Required subject(s): 2 years post-16 study, Portfolio & interview
Course overview
The course will prepare students to be part of the photographic industry.

The main aims of this degree are:
to develop the technical and creative skills
to understand the digital workflow, video production and basic web design
to provide opportunities to undertake work-based learning within the photographic industry, allowing students to see in operation and practice new skills learnt in class;
to develop knowledge and understanding of a range of styles, both historical and contemporary, used within photographic practice.
to be able to contextualise their own practice
to enable students to graduate with evidence of a body of work, both hard copy and digital, which can assist in future professional advancement;
to equip students for employment/self employment in the field of photography and/or digital media and within the creative industries;
to provide a two-year Professional Photography degree which enables students to go on to level three of the BA(Hons) Photography degree or to other specialist degrees.
Foundation Degrees are new, modern higher education qualifications that combine the needs of industry with academic skills. The aim of FdA Professional Photography is to equip you with the skills and knowledge required to work in the photographic industry. This means the programme has a distinctly vocational flavour with the focus being very much on the practical elements of the field, but also allows you learn how to contextualise your images.

Course content will develop your digital skills to an advanced level, and you’ll learn to use a wide range of different cameras and formats. In the lighting workshops you’ll learn to work with studio flash, on location, and mixed lighting. You’ll also develop basic design skills for website creation. In fact, you’ll cover all areas of professional practice.

Specialist workshops and lectures in areas such as fashion, portrait and product photography, provide a grounding in technical aspects as well as bringing you up to speed with current trends. Illustrated talks will bring you closer to the work of a number of practitioners working internationally at a high level.

Throughout your studies you’ll enjoy the support and guidance of our highly experienced teaching staff, and by the end of the course you’ll be expected to produce a high-quality digital and hard copy portfolio to demonstrate just how far you’ve come. Graduates of FdA Professional Photography may transfer to the third year of the BA (Hons) Photography.

This course has a distinguished history and offers you the opportunity to study photographic practice, theory and history in the broadest possible context. We have a strong teaching team of professional photographers and artists and our students graduate with a high level of professional and practical knowledge, as well as an understanding of photographic culture and history.

This course focuses on contemporary photographic art practice. Studying photography within a fine art context prepares our students for all types of future employment within the field of photography, both art-based and commercial practice.

The four year course includes a preparatory year (year 0) which enables you to gain and develop a range of skills in moving/still image and audio production and editing. The initial year also offers supports seminars, tutorials, specialist technical workshops and group critiques to help you to adapt to the student centred learning of degree level study. Once you have successfully completed this preparatory year you progress directly, without further interview or application onto the BA (Hons) Photography courses at UCA Farnham. You also have the option of progressing onto other courses in media and communications.

This course is an opportunity for you to establish an individual critical and creative practice in photography. You develop technical and professional skills in analogue and digital image-making, film based technologies, digital video and web authoring. You have access to our Digital Imaging Centre, which offers an extensive range of digital authoring and publishing options. Our lecturers are practising photographers and we offer a stimulating programme of lectures by visiting artists, writers, curators and commissioners.

Areas of study are:
Reflections On Realism
Representation & The Construction Of Identity
Contextualisation
Reality & Representation
Images Of Cultural Convention
Visual Strategy & Dialogues Of Dissent
Time Space & The Definition Of Experience
New Worlds – The Creation Of Metaphoric Space

In the first year you will work on a set building project which will include a website that features an archive of previous projects and live online
production diaries for the year. In the Spring the project will be based in the studio where there will be live web cams. This project is fairly high profile and is supported
companies such as Arri Lighting GB, DRS Construction, Hasselblad UK, CirroLite.

Course content

The course encourages exploration of the photograph within practices such as art and independent photography, editorial, product, services and industry, performance and entertainment and communications. Encouraging progressivley independent learning, the course will include the development of working to client commissions, personal research methods and the study of photography in a variety of contexts and across a range of genres.
Stage one

Introduction to processes and techniques of photography (from the use of a 35mm camera, digital SLR to medium and large format photography, studio and location shooting and working in both the wet and dark rooms) and the consideration of the different conceptual approaches to photography, supported by theory lectures alongside fine art students.
Stage two

Development of a body of practical work around both fine art and commercial applications, supported by theory lectures on the place of photography within a variety of genres and the production of a folder of career development information.
Stage three

Consolidation of practical work, culminating in an exhibition and either a shorter dissertation and a professional development folder, or a longer dissertation for those with strengths in critical writing.
Typical modules include
Critical photographic practice
Lens-based images – archive/collection
Photography and design for communication
Photographic images in visual culture
Photography in arts practice
Photographic media – conceptual development
Photographic truth – photographic fiction
Practice exhibition
Understanding the visual
Career opportunities

A wide range of career opportunities exist in the commercial and public sector, marketing, public relations and specialised fields. Graduates can develop their practice as independent artists and pursue collaborations, commissions, publication and exhibition opportunities, or in postgraduate study. MA in the Arts (Fine Art) or (Curatorial Studies) are offered as progression in the School of The Arts.