Program Overview

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Photography BA (Hons)

Overview

Do you enjoy capturing fleeting moments? Can you imagine taking and making photographs for a living?

Course Details

Full-time and Part-time

W640 BA/Photo

Art & Design

Course routes:

• Degree: 3 years (or 4 with a work placement)
• Plus foundation year: 4 years (or 5 with a work placement)

Course Overview

Foundation year

Work placement

You become a technically proficient, creatively curious and critically reflective photographer exploring all types of photographic production, from portraiture and fashion to still life, allowing you to identify your specialism in this diverse industry.

We offer a practical photography course in a region that celebrates its legacy of documentary culture – there are varied landscapes that include industrial, urban, coastal, and moors for those interested in shooting on location across genres such as portraiture, documentary, fashion and landscape.

Three strands run through the course to cement your future-ready focus:

• Build your practical and subject-specific skills, through access to analogue darkrooms as well as digital cameras, printers and lighting studios
• Create an extensive body of work by developing your making process skills and working on personal projects
• Develop an outward-looking ethos by responding to live briefs that consider audience and market, resolved into outcomes appropriate to the industry

Top reasons to study photography at Teesside University:

1. Professional facilities: our photography studios and darkroom are installed with the latest equipment, so you learn in professional studios to support your development
2. Learn on location: we are located at the heart of stunning photographic locations with beaches, sunsets, industrial landscapes, historical buildings and the beautiful North Yorkshire Moors
3. Get creative: our course and campus are powered by Adobe and Apple. We’re Europe’s first Adobe Creative Campus and the only Apple-accredited University, equipping you with the digital tools and resources to hone your creative photographic skills
4. Expert teaching: our staff are practising photographers, curators, historians and critics who have exhibited and had their work published in national publications
5. Linked to our own art gallery: our international contemporary art gallery, MIMA (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art), holds a photography collection to inspire you

Course Structure

Year 1 core modules

• Collaboration Project
• Introduction to Photography Practice
• Introduction to the Creative Industries
• Photography Project

Year 2 core modules

• Advanced Photography Project
• Creative Research Project
• Industry Project
• Working in the Creative Industries

Optional work placement year

• Work placement

Final-year core modules

• Major Project
• Professional Practice

How You Learn

An academic staff team of specialist practitioners and theorists work in partnership with technical staff to ensure you have access to a diverse and extensive range of photographic and fine art expertise.

How You Are Assessed

The continuous assessment structure allows key assessment deadlines to be located at the mid-point and endpoint of each academic year.

Entry Requirements

Year 1 entry

• 96-112 points, including a creative subject, from any combination of recognised Level 3 qualifications and a creative portfolio showing skills in your chosen discipline
• Normally GCSE English language at grade C, or 4 under the new grading system

Alternative degree with integrated foundation year

If you are unable to achieve the minimum admission requirements for Year 1 entry you could, subject to eligibility, join one of our degree courses with an integrated foundation year.

Direct entry to later years

If you have previously studied at higher education level (for example, a foundation degree, HNC, HND or one or more years at degree level at another institution) you may request direct entry to Year 2 or year 3 of this degree.

Mature applicants

We welcome applications from mature students (aged over 21) who can demonstrate, through portfolio/written work and relevant experience, that they have developed cognitive and technical skills through their life experiences.

Employability

A large variety of unique options are open to you after graduating with a BA (Hons) Photography. The creative, research and professional skills gained open a broad range of careers possibilities, including:

• Freelance and corporate photography industries (advertising, fashion, editorial, blogging, product and special occasion, documentary and art photography)
• Photo-related industries (art buyer, picture editor, publisher)
• Art-related (curator, archivist, gallery admin)
• Further education and academic (teaching, research, education)
• Art directing
• Entrepreneurship

Information for International Applicants

Qualifications

International applicants - find out what qualifications you need by selecting your country.

Tuition Fees

Full-time

• £9,535 a year (UK applicants)
• £17,000 a year (international applicants)

Part-time

• £4,635 (120 credits) (UK applicants)

Other Course Routes

Foundation year

Study this course with a foundation year if you need additional preparation or if you don't have sufficient grades to join Year 1.

Work placement

Study this course with an optional work placement year, at no extra cost. Alongside this, you can gain valuable experience and engagement with the sector through our shorter work placements, internships and work experience opportunities.