Commercial Photography BA (Hons)

This course is in clearing with spaces available

This course is in Clearing with Spaces Available

Overview

Course options

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Degree

UCAS code: W645 112 UCAS points
  • BA (Hons) Commercial Photography, home applicant, full time

    • Home Applicant
    • Full time, 3 years
    • Pound 9250 Per year
  • BA (Hons) Commercial Photography, home applicant, part time

    • Home Applicant
    • Part time
    • Pro-rata full time fee
  • BA (Hons) Commercial Photography, international applicant, full time

    • International Applicant
    • Full time, 3 years
    • Pound 14580 Per year

Degree with foundation year

UCAS code: W645 64 UCAS points
  • BA (Hons) Commercial Photography, home applicant, full time

    • Home Applicant
    • Full time, 4 years
    • Pound 9250 Per year
  • BA (Hons) Commercial Photography, international applicant, full time

    • International Applicant
    • Full time, 4 years
    • Pound 14580 Per year

What makes this course different

  • Commercial networks

    You will be studying in East London with access to Europe's largest commercial photographers' networks and our successful photography alumni.

  • Industry 4.0 career focused

    Work on collaborations with students from other subjects and access technical support and subject expertise across other disciplines. This will give you an edge in the competitive job market.

  • Our facilities

    A wide range of facilities are open from 8am-9pm, allowing access to areas like our large Analogue Darkroom.

Course modules

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This course is designed to allow you to prepare you for a successful career in fashion, editorial, beauty, advertising, architectural photography, fashion film (moving image) and post-production or set and run photography studios and even set up a magazine. Through BA (Hons) Commercial Photography you will gain fresh perspectives and approaches (divergent thinking) giving you an edge in the competitive job market, and skills for the fourth industrial age (4iR). You will undertake interdisciplinary collaboration with students from BA Design Interaction, Fine Art Technology, Graphic Design, Illustration and Animation or find collaborators from e.g. our successful fashion department or our unique urban dance course, gaining access to the exchange of skills, technical support and subject expertise across disciplines.

Contextual Studies 1

Practice 1

Experimentation and Application 1A

Experimentation and Application 1B

Research into Practice 1

Professional Life 1 (Mental Wealth)

Contextual Studies 2

Practice 2

Advanced Experimentation and Applications

Advanced Practice

Research into Practice 2

Professional Life 2 (Mental Wealth)

Industrial Sandwich Placement

Practice 3

Research into Practice 3 – Commercial Photography

Independent Major Project Part A

Independent Major Project Part B

Professional Life 3 (Mental Wealth)

NOTE: Modules are subject to change. For those studying part time courses the modules may vary.

Download course specification

Your future career

The changes in digital technology and distribution has provided opportunities for the new generation of photographers and graduates, who are more able to adapt to the technological challenges and processes.

Industry links

Well-known external creatives regularly visit the photography department to deliver talks and workshops. Recent visitors include: Emma Bowkett (Director of Photography FT Weekend Magazine), Mike Trow (previously a picture editor at British Vogue), Aron Mörel (Morel Books), Steve McLeod (Photographer and Director of Metro Imaging), Nick Dunmur (Association of Photographers), Hannah Watson (Director of TJ Boulting Gallery), Sabina Jaskot-Gill (Curator, Photographs, National Portraiture Gallery) Azeema Magazine.

Graduate employers

The majority of the BA (Hons) Commercial Photography graduates will work as self-employed and/or freelance. They may start work as photography assistants gradually progressing into freelance photography or they may set up their own studios/ entrepreneurial ventures such as magazines. Increasingly graduates may take on roles such as 

  • producer
  • project manager
  • social media manager
  • digital marketing and design or 
  • marketing and PR.

Job roles

Currently, the BA (Hons) Photography course alumni work in a wide range of careers such as freelance photographer, award-winning feature and documentary director, flight test photographer, senior photographer at Net-a-Porter Group, director of a photographic studio (The White Rabbit studio and Espero Studio), co-director of a location scouting company, fashion photographer, interior photography, portraiture photographer, property photographer, documentary and portrait photographer, lifestyle, portrait and product photographer, videographer, freelance camera operator, digital operator, freelance lighting and digital photographer's assistant.

Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.

Keith Winter
We empower interior designers and architects to be vibrant communicators. In Year 1 we technically train you, year 2 you find your design voice. By Year 3 you are professionally ready to work with established contacts and industry partners."
Keith Winter

Course leader for BA (Hons) Interior Design

How we support your career ambitions

We offer dedicated careers support, further opportunities to thrive, such as volunteering and industry networking. Our courses are created in collaboration with employers and industry to ensure they accurately reflect the real-life practices of your future career and provide you with the essential skills needed. You can focus on building interpersonal skills through group work and benefit from our investment in the latest cutting edge technologies and facilities.

Career Zone

This digital platform provides you with careers and employability resources, including:

  • Jobs board for internships, placements, graduate opportunities, flexible part-time work 
  • Mentoring programmes for insight with industry experts 
  • 1-2-1 career coaching services 
  • Careers workshops and employer events 
  • Learning pathways to gain new skills and industry insight

Mental Wealth programme

Our Professional Fitness and Mental Wealth programme issues you with a Careers Passport to track the skills you've mastered. Some of these are externally validated by corporations like Amazon and Microsoft.

See more details

We are careers first

Our teaching methods and geographical location put us right up top:

  • Work-based projects
  • Networking and visits to leading organisations
  • Support in starting a new business
  • London on our doorstep

How you'll learn

When not attending timetabled lectures or workshops, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This will typically involve skills development through online study, reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects and preparing coursework assignments and presentations. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, specialist facilities, such as game labs, the library, the full Microsoft Office software, including MS Teams, and Moodle: our Virtual Learning Environment.

    Guided independent study

    We are investing in key areas beyond your studies including our career services, library and well-being, to be available both face-to-face on campus and online with many of these available 24/7. We have new, modern library facilities on both campuses offering inspirational environments for study and research. Libraries contain resources in print and digital formats, a range of study spaces and a dedicated librarian who can assist with your learning.

    Academic support

    Students are supported with any academic or subject-related queries by an Academic Advisor, module leaders, and former and current UEL students.

    Dedicated personal tutor

    If you need a bit of extra help with certain skills such as academic writing, English, maths or statistics, our Academic Tutors offer workshops, drop-in sessions and one-to-one appointments to help our students achieve their potential. You can receive advice and guidance on all aspects of the IT systems provided by the university from our IT Service Desks located on all three campuses. Our Student Support hubs in Docklands and Stratford feature centralised helpdesks to cater for your every need. UEL provides also support and advice for disabled students and those with specific learning difficulties (SPDs).

    Workload

    Each year you will spend around 300 hours of timetabled learning and teaching activities. These may be lectures, workshops, seminars and individual and group tutorials. Contact hours may vary depending on each module.
    The approximate percentages for this course are:

    • Year 1: scheduled teaching - 300 hours; guided independent study - 900 hours.

    • Year 2: scheduled teaching - 300 hours; guided independent study - 900 hours.

    • Year 3: scheduled teaching - 300 hours; guided independent study - 900 hours.

    Your timetable

    Your individualised timetable is normally available to students within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week between 9.00am and 6.00pm. For undergraduate students, Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities, but there may be occasions when this is not possible.

    Class sizes

    The size of classes can vary depending on the nature of the course, module and activity. This can range from large groups in a lecture theatre setting, to smaller groups taking part in seminars and collaborative work. You will receive your personalised timetable at the beginning of the academic year depending on your course.

How you'll be assessed

Assessment tasks are mainly spread across the year to make the workload manageable. Assessment methods include group work, exams and individual work including essays, presentations, case studies, professional development and practical activities depending on the nature of the course. All grades count towards your module mark. More details will be included in the student handbook and module guides. You will always receive detailed feedback outlining your strengths and how you can improve. We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 15 working days, although you will receive immediate feedback following many of our face-to-face assessments.

Campus and facilities

Docklands Campus, London, E16 2RD

DiscoverUni

The banner below displays some key factual data about this course (including different course combinations or delivery modes of this course where relevant).

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Statistics for BA (Hons) Commercial Photography Degree, Full Time

Statistics for BA (Hons) Commercial Photography Degree, Full Time

What our students and staff say

Adam Wiseman
"UEL is a space to freely experiment and explore, where learning is never confined to the classroom."

Adam Wiseman

Senior lecturer and course leader for BA (Hons) Commercial Photography

Experiments with Truth Karin
Studying at UEL has been the best decision I ever made. I was unsure if I would fit in as a mature student, but my age provided me with experience that was an advantage. I worked well with my fellow students and my lecturers. I have learned so much about photography, but also about subjects relating to photography like putting together books and curating exhibitions, which has and continues to benefit my career. Studying here has improved my knowledge and technical skills as well as my confidence, giving me contacts in the industry and a bunch of new, creative friends."

Karin Bultje

BA (Hons) Photography graduate