Course units

Block 1: EXPLORE – supports the transition to postgraduate level study and new thinking of fashion photography (as anti-thesis) through the following units: 

• In/Different Spaces (20 credits) 

This unit is purposefully challenge-led and disruptive of preconceived ideas and habits, as a basis to offer you a different space in which to consider, engage with and expand your discourse of fashion photography. 

In/Different Spaces seeks to benchmark a new intellectual and pragmatic space for the group, distinct from your past in real and notional ways. This new learning environment welcomes and considers all possibilities. You should find your own response in this context, challenging preconceived ideas of place, environment, work ethic and creativity. 

• Interplays: Fashion and Photography (40 credits) 

Interplays: Fashion and Photography offers a conceptual and practical experience to explore and develop critical, meaningful and diverse relationships between fashion and photography; fostering a newly invigorated and authentic relationship with your work, informed by historical and cultural interplays. 

Practical classes, historical and theoretical lectures and debate, and project development will generate interplays between photography and fashion; encouraging experimentation in thinking and making, and the development of ideas and methodologies for your own personal and professional aspirations. 

On successful completion of these units, you are eligible for the award of a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). (60 credits) 

Block 2: SITUATE – fosters the shift from orientation and exploration of the discipline to a position of iterative affirmation of your own interests (as in thesis or premise) and specific direction through the following units: 

• New Iterations in Fashion Photography (40 credits) 

This unit is intended to foster an independent and self-directed engagement with theory and practice. During the unit you will extend your personal and professional photographic aspiration and intention, exploring the discourse and practice of fashion photography in relation to audience and market, and potential commercial, environmental, cultural and societal contribution and benefit. 

This unit should be formative in the development of your Master’s Project, encouraging a unique and sustainable approach to project development and strategy. 

• Elective Unit (20 credits) 

In Block 2, students will have an opportunity to take an elective unit. Individual unit descriptors can be found in the Electives Handbook. 

On successful completion of these units, you are eligible for the award of Postgraduate Diploma. (120 credits) 

Block 3: INTEGRATE – The culmination of theory and practice acquired throughout Block 1 and 2 (as in synthesis), brought together through the Master’s Project. 

• Master’s Project (60 credits) 

The Master’s Project is the final stage of your Master’s course and is the is the culmination of your studies and provides you with a space to synthesise all the knowledge and skills you have gained on the course so far. Your project will be self-directed, and you will negotiate the shape and direction of your project at the outset with your supervisor. This important final phase of your studies is where you will effectively communicate your work along with your ability to critically interrogate your practice with robust approaches to research and theoretical analysis.  

Upon completion of your project, you will have generated a high-quality piece of work that will showcase your practice, academic literacy and the professional standards that will act as a platform for your future career and professional development. 

On successful completion of the Master’s Project unit, you are eligible for the award of Master’s of Art. (180 credits) The final ward grading is based upon the results of the Master’s Project only. 

MA Fashion Photography is offered in full-time mode and runs for 45 weeks over 12 months. You will be expected to commit an average of 40 hours per week to your course, including teaching hours, tutorial support and independent study. 

Credit Framework 

The University of the Arts London Credit Framework equates 20 credits to 200 hours of learning time. 

Learning and teaching methods

The course utilises established learning and teaching methods including: lectures; seminars; studio and technical demonstrations and workshops; cultural field trips; and group and individual tutorials.The course cultivates an international perspective with global networks, as well as a ‘go see’ attitude outside of the classroom or studio. 

The following set of learning and teaching strategies also significantly underpin the course ethos:   

Experimental and experiential learning: Students are encouraged to be proactive and to take creative risks.   

Collaboration: Collaboration is a core principle and key skill on this course, and students are encouraged to initiate self-directed collaborative projects often required as part of their production team, as well as external collaborations with other MA cohorts within communities of LCF and UAL peers, alumni and industry.  

Peer-to-Peer Learning, Knowledge exchange and Feedback: Developing the skill of offering collegial and constructive criticism is key to the construction of a formative learning environment, and to a possible career in academia. This is embedded in the course, as students present their ideas in class to staff and students for critique and formative feedback.

Expert Talks: Guest experts from the industry, alumni, and leading scholars from across LCF and UAL and other HEI’s are invited to share their expertise with the students in an array of forms, including lectures, panel discussions, and workshops. These occasions are embedded in the curriculum, complementing and extending the core delivery.  

Technical Delivery: Technical delivery developing core skills in photographic and related media practice and production are embedded in the curriculum to support the core course units. This provision is offered by technical staff teams in the scheduled teaching programme as part of an expected level of advanced skill, as well as through sign-up workshop sessions via the media lab and department. 

Selection criteria

The course seeks to recruit students from diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds and welcomes applications from mature students. Primarily it is the purpose of selection to recruit those students for whom the course would be most beneficial and appropriate, as evidenced through the application process.

English Language Requirements

IELTS level 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in reading, writing, listening and speaking. Please check our main English Language Requirements.