MA Commercial Photography
University of the Arts London
Key Information
Campus location
London, United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
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Pace
Full time
Tuition fees
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Application deadline
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Earliest start date
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Introduction
MA Commercial Photography
MA Commercial Photography focuses on technical excellence, and can support your ambitions towards becoming a high-end freelance photographer. Whether you’re interested in working across areas such as advertising, fashion, sport, lifestyle and editorial, you’ll be supported to develop a high level of competence in responding to key and changing developments across contemporary commercial photography.
MA Commercial Photography focuses on technical excellence, and can support your ambitions towards becoming a high-end freelance photographer.
You may be interested in working across areas such as advertising, fashion, sport, lifestyle and editorial. Alternatively, you may wish to develop other career pathways – for example, as a digital visual specialist or picture editor.
You’ll be supported to develop a high level of competence in responding to key and changing developments across contemporary commercial photography.
Within this, you’ll consider the impact of global and ethical issues and accelerating technologies which demand responsive practices, adaptive visual approaches and distinctive concept development.
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
Several scholarship options are available. Please check the university website for more information.
Curriculum
Commercial Photography in Practice
This unit will hone your image-making skills and develop your style as a commercial photographer. It will provide you with robust theoretical and practical frameworks for the research and production of a short series of images on a chosen theme. You’ll cover idea generation, research, the role of text, and picture-editing for different iterations of commercial practice.
There’s an industry-focus within this unit, including industry visits and guest speakers, and it’s designed to equip you to work to commission in a variety of contexts. There are a series of non-assessed assignments throughout which will enable you to receive formative feedback, culminating in an assessed assignment.
Histories and Theories of Commercial Photographic Practices
This unit positions contemporary commercial practices within various historical contexts through analysis of significant photographers, movements, and agencies.
Grounded in photographic research methodologies and theories, you’ll consider concurrent practices, with particular attention paid to the work of present and previous generations of global practitioners which relate, shape, and intersect with ethical, social, political, and economic contexts.
Collaborative Unit
Commercial photography practice is underpinned by collaboration. This is strongly encouraged and foregrounded throughout the course and amplified further in this unit which is dedicated entirely to collaborative practices.
You will take part in activities including developing presentations and communicating realised projects to peers and partners, demonstrating self-reflection on interdisciplinary work.
This unit is designed to enable you to identify, form and develop collaborative working relationships with a range of potential partners.
Professional Identities and Portfolio Developments
The unit explores and develops your working knowledge of contemporary business practice with an emphasis on operating as a freelance practitioner. You’ll examine contemporary practices, trends and media convergence within commercial photography.
Through research development and practice, you’ll develop solutions to photographic challenges and execute them in a professional context. This unit brings together your developing skills, knowledge and understanding, enabling you to produce a portfolio of work that demonstrates an adaptive yet distinct personal style within the context of commercial production.
Final Major Project
The Final Major Project provides an opportunity for you to create a substantial self- initiated project, synthesising your skills, knowledge and understanding while supporting you to develop a substantial professional portfolio to demonstrate your practice as you develop your future career.
Supervised and supported as you undertake this major piece of work, this unit will include research planning and methodologies, along with the application of models to commercial photographic practice and the presentation of your findings.
Program Outcome
- Workshops
- Group seminars
- Group and individual presentations/pitches
- Critical peer review on work-in-progress
- Industry visiting speaker series, providing opportunity for in-year portfolio reviews
- Networking and mentoring
- Online lectures and individual tutorials
- Recorded technical workshops and demonstrations
Working on set and self-initiated projects which promote learning through discovery, interaction and response, you’ll work towards developing a high-quality portfolio suitable for presentation when approaching clients for future commissions or industry roles.
You'll also have opportunity to collaborate with external organisations, working to real-time/live briefs designed to enable you to understand the potential uses for your work and future practices.
Program Tuition Fee
Program delivery
MA Commercial Photography is in full-time mode which runs for 45 weeks over 4 terms of study. You will be expected to commit 40 hours per week to study.