-Fashion-Photography,-UCA-Rochester_1.jpg "Kiva Huang, BA (Hons) Fashion Photography, UCA Rochester")
Fashion Photography BA (Hons)
Epsom
Course overview
There are fashion photographers - and then there are fashion photographers who have learned their trade at UCA. Join our BA (Hons) Fashion Photography course to discover how to become creative and experimental artist within the fashion industry.
You will explore established and expanded conventions within contemporary fashion photography and have the opportunity to produce highly creative original work using industry-standard facilities.
With industry commissions, strong professional connections and a visiting lecture programme that offers a chance to hear from industry leaders, you’ll also gain essential insights into the working environments of fashion photographers.
From 2022 entry you have the option to complete a Professional Practice Year as part of this course. This will give you the opportunity to develop your professional, academic and personal potential, equipping you to be confident and engaged in creative workplaces. Employers widely recognise these qualities, and a significant proportion of placement students are offered graduate-level jobs or go onto postgraduate study.
Please note - this course will be moving from UCA Rochester to UCA Epsom for 2022 entry. If you already have credits from another university, or if you have work experience to an equivalent level, you can apply to enter directly into year 2 of the course at Rochester.
Our standard three year undergraduate degree for those who meet the entry requirements for higher education.
UCAS Code for 3 year/standard: W645
A four year degree programme, including a foundation year to help develop your creativity before you embark on year one of a degree.
UCAS Code for course with Integrated Foundation Year: W64A
A four year course, specifically designed to provide international students with the English language and creative skills before they embark on year one of a degree.
UCAS Code for course with Integrated International Foundation Year: W64C
A four year programme, which sees you spend an entire year gaining valuable industry experience prior to your final year of study.
UCAS Code for course with Professional Practice: W646
A five year course, including a foundation year to help develop your creativity before you embark on year one of a degree, and a year on a professional placement gaining valuable industry experience prior to your final year of study.
UCAS Code for course with Integrated Foundation Year and Professional Practice Year: W64B
A five year course, including an international foundation year concentrating on English language and core creative skills before you embark on year one of a degree, and a year on a professional placement gaining valuable industry experience prior to your final year of study.
UCAS Code for course with International Integrated Foundation Year and Professional Practice Year: W64D
Course Details
The content of the course may be subject to change. Curriculum content is provided as a guide.
UCA’s Integrated Foundation Year is designed to give you the skills you’ll need to start your degree in the best possible way – with confidence, solid knowledge of creative practice, study skills and more.
You’ll explore a range of creative techniques and develop your portfolio, with your chosen subject in mind. We’ll work with you throughout the year to ensure you’re on the right track and give you the tools to achieve your highest potential on your degree.
For our students coming from a non-UK educational background, UCA has an Integrated International Foundation Year to bring students from around the world to one hub of creativity.
This year of preparatory study is designed to give you the skills you’ll need to start your degree in the best possible way – with confidence, solid knowledge of creative practice, study skills and the English speaking and writing skills you’ll need to succeed.
You’ll explore a range of creative techniques and develop your portfolio, with your chosen subject in mind. We’ll work with you throughout the year to ensure you’re on the right track and give you the tools to achieve your highest potential on your degree.
Guest Speakers’ Series
You’ll join students across the School of Fashion and Textiles for our Industry Guest Speakers’ Series – you’ll hear from people with diverse backgrounds, skills and career paths representing the diversity of our student community, to inspire you to kick-start your thinking about your own career journey.
Looking through images
You’ll be introduced to core ideas and principles involved in making fashion images. You’ll consider the technological advances throughout the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, and through location-based photography be exposed to, and experiment with, a range of approaches.
Equality diversity and inclusion
You’ll be asked to explore and discover yourself and introduce who you are to your peers. This will be achieved through an individual creative outcome that explores their own history. To understand who they are, we ask learners to look at their friends and family and investigate their own history, or the history of others around them. We are shaped by our environment, customs, traditions and beliefs and we have become who we are because of the people who have influenced us in some way. We have both the biological family and the family we create. We want you to think imaginatively about presenting your findings in a creative document.
Aspirations
You’ll reflect upon editorial, commercial and historical practice and pre-existing outputs, collaborating in small teams to reproduce an image using photographic approaches. You will be given the opportunity to re-interpret chosen images to disrupt and develop the original reading.
Hackathon
In your first Opportunity Week, you’ll work with others on a high-intensity project. You’ll use a new piece of software or equipment to familiarise yourself with the technology that is becoming ubiquitous in the industry. For instance, you may be asked to design a website, an Instagram filter, an avatar, a virtual garment or digital prints.
Displacements
You will be introduced to a range of approaches to fashion image-making; technological, ethical and conceptual, and learn the ways that objects and bodies are positioned in front of a lens to create meaning and debate. You’ll be introduced to analogue photography and essential studio skills, including controlled lighting, pose and performance.
Publications and outputs
You’ll reflect upon publishing, dissemination and disruption within Fashion Photography, learning about issues surrounding copyright, appropriation, montage, lo-fi self-publishing, desktop publishing, global contexts and markets. You’ll have the opportunity to work collaboratively with students from other courses within the School of Fashion and Textiles to produce an output that is playful, disruptive, and aimed at a specified market/ audience.
Business of Fashion
You’ll be introduced to the fundamental principles of fashion business and practices through a global lens. You’ll learn about how the macro environment affects the fashion industry sector and consumer groups and how it operates, introducing you to the various market levels and sectors, as well as industry structure, supply chain, distribution, marketing and commercialisation of products and services to end-users.
ATOM Activities
ATOM activities are small pieces of individual learning that facilitate interdisciplinary exposure across UCA, and offer a flexible, impactful learning experience. They expand your creative horizon by accessing learning topics that would not otherwise be scheduled on your course specific timetable.
Launch - Career Week
You’ll start the second year with an intensive, interactive career preparation week. It prepares you for your work placement, through preparing your CV and cover letters, developing personal branding on professional social networks, networking and interview preparation.
Storytelling
Explore the different possibilities of working with narrative in your image making, including moving image work. You’ll work on a series of briefs set by your unit leader exploring different approaches to visual and expanded media storytelling. This then forms the technical and conceptual understanding for what is developed in the ‘Fashion Film’ unit that follows.
The conscious practitioner
Through technology, the world and all its wonders has become more accessible, at the screen we can connect globally in a second. The aim of this unit is to encourage learners to look at the We & Us of the world. You’ll explore global cultures through the lens of fashion and other influent mediums, such as global cinema, historical and modern cultural movements.
Elective – Fashion Film
Using the technical and conceptual understanding developed in ‘Storytelling’, you’ll work collaboratively across the school to produce a resolved fashion film.
Elective - Digital Extremes for Fashion
Stretch your understanding of your practical skills through the digital enhancement. You’ll learn to create virtual characters and avatars, learn about extreme photoshop to enhance or distort your images, and create a dossier of reflective research and designs.
Dragon's Den
Have you ever watched Dragon’s Den on the BBC? Have you ever dreamed of being one of the contestants? Have you got a business idea? Now is your chance to become the next big fashion and textiles entrepreneur. You’ll work in multi-disciplinary teams to prepare a short business plan, a prototype and pitch your ideas to a panel of industry judges.
Creative agency
Producing work for contexts that may include print publishing, fashion brand narratives, advertising and editorials – or working on a live brief – this unit encourages you to explore the possibilities and frictions of creative work within commercial contexts.
Engaging with opportunities
You’ll research, analyse, evaluate and prepare for your placement unit at the end of their second year.
Placement
You’ll have the opportunity to undertake one of two options on this unit – a four-week minimum self-initiated work placement that’s relevant to your potential career direction, or complete an industry case study which gives you the opportunity to study an aspect of the industry, that you identify as an area of interest, through the method of case study research. For both, you will record, critically analyse and evaluate your findings through a learning journal and present them in your learning journal and a professionally structured Placement or Case Study Report.
ATOM Activities
ATOM activities are small pieces of individual learning that facilitate interdisciplinary exposure across UCA, and offer a flexible, impactful learning experience. They expand your creative horizon by accessing learning topics that would not otherwise be scheduled on your course specific timetable.
If you opt to complete a professional practice year, this will take place in year three. You will undertake a placement within the creative industries to further develop your skills and CV.
While on your Professional Practice Year, you will be required to pay a reduced tuition fee for that year. This fee will be determined using government funding regulations. Based on current regulations, we expect this to be a maximum of 20% of the tuition fee rate that you are charged for your second year of study. You will also incur additional travel and accommodation costs during this year. The University will provide you with further advice and guidance about this as you approach your Professional Practice Year.
Please note: If you are an international applicant, you will need to enrol onto the course ‘with Professional Practice Year’. It will not be possible to transfer onto the Professional Practice Year after enrolment
Project pitch
Your final year begins with a project pitch week. This is your opportunity to share ideas that you will have developed over the summer about your degree project, receive feedback and fine-tune it before you start actively working on it as part of your last year at university.
Exploring possibilities
You’ll investigate a range of processes, techniques, approaches and debates surrounding contemporary fashion image-making with the intention of refining your findings during the ‘Professional Futures’ unit. The unit will culminate in a record of the learning that has been achieved and you will be able to articulate what direction you now wish to take going forward into ‘Professional Futures’.
Constellations
You’ll develop a substantial and independently driven research project, which could take the form of a critical text, a zine, a video piece or an online project. You’ll be encouraged to work on ideas of an appropriate academic level and explore how your constellation of research sources might be best shared to a public audience.
Graduate career fair
The Graduate Career Fair takes place during the first week of your second term to help your job search as you prepare for life after graduation. Companies that are actively hiring in your sector will be present to give you information about them, the kind of candidates they are looking for and their hiring process.
Professional futures
This unit forms the culmination of your studies, taking your explorations and findings made during the ‘Looking Forward’ and ‘Constellations’ units to explore a major theme. You will be given the opportunity to create a resolved body of work that is both critically engaged and technically appropriate. This work could take the form of still/ moving image, installation or interdisciplinary/ transmedia.
This course offers the opportunity to study abroad for part of your second year. To find out more about studying abroad as part of your course please see the Study Abroad section:
Tuition fees
2022 course fees for Year 1 entry and Integrated Foundation Year:
- UK students - £9,250
- EU students - £9,250 (see fee discount information)
- International students - £16,950
If you opt to study the Professional Practice Year, for 2022 you will be required to pay a reduced tuition fee of £1,850 (UK students) and £3,390 (International students). You will also incur additional travel and accommodation costs during your Professional Practice year. The University will provide you with further advice and guidance about this.
Additional course costs
In addition to the tuition fees there may be other costs for your course. The things that you are likely to need to budget for to get the most out of a creative arts education will include books, printing costs, occasional or optional study trips and/or project materials. These costs will vary according to the nature of your project work and the individual choices that you make. Please see the Additional Course Costs section of your Course Information for details of the costs you may incur.
Further information
For more detailed information about our course fees and any financial support you may be entitled to please see our fees and finance pages.
The fees listed here are correct for the stated academic year only. Costs may increase each year during a student’s period of continued registration on course in line with inflation (subject to any maximum regulated tuition fee limit). Any adjustment for continuing students will be at or below the RPI-X forecast rate.
Industry placement
offer
Preparing graduates for successful careers underpins everything we do, and all students on this course will be offered an industry placement anywhere between two weeks and a year in length, depending on their individual needs. We’ll draw on our wide range of contacts within the creative industries to ensure you’re offered opportunities that align with your interests and future career aspirations.
Course specifications
Please note, syllabus content indicated is provided as a guide. The content of the course may be subject to change in line with our Student Terms and Conditions for example, as required by external professional bodies or to improve the quality of the course.
-Fashion-Photography,-UCA-Rochester_2.jpg "Grace Elliott, BA (Hons) Fashion Photography, UCA Rochester")
-Fashion-Photography,-UCA-Rochester_1.jpg "Aynrand Ariel, BA (Hons) Fashion Photography, UCA Rochester")
-Fashion-Photography,-UCA-Rochester.jpg "Charlotte Holton, BA (Hons) Fashion Photography, UCA Rochester")
-Fashion-Photography,-UCA-Rochester.jpg "Georgina Riley, BA (Hons) Fashion Photography, UCA Rochester")
-Fashion-Photography,-UCA-Rochester_5.jpg "Grace Elliott, BA (Hons) Fashion Photography, UCA Rochester")
-Fashion-Photography,-UCA-Rochester.jpg "Student work from BA (Hons) Fashion Photography")
-Fashion-Photography,-UCA-Rochester_3.jpg "Student work from BA (Hons) Fashion Photography")
-Fashion-Photography,-UCA-Rochester_4.jpg "Grace Elliott, BA (Hons) Fashion Photography, UCA Rochester")
-Fashion-Photography,-UCA-Rochester.jpg "Charlotte Boyde, BA (Hons) Fashion Photography, UCA Rochester")
Facilities
The campus has photographic studios with lighting rigs, green screen lighting set up and digital media suites equipped with Macs and PCs, programmed with specialist design software.
Photography studios, UCA Epsom
Digital suites, UCA Epsom
Library, UCA Epsom
Photography studios, UCA Epsom
Course connections
Through industry-facing project briefs, strong links with practitioners at multiple levels, portfolio reviews, visiting lectures, and annual exhibitions, students are introduced to a range of voices and experiences within the world of fashion photography, photography and moving image.
We also hold weekly lectures with well-known names within the industry. Past lecturers have included:
- Rut Blees Luxemburg
- Sophie Rickett
- Stephen Gill
- Eva Stenram
- John Stezaker
- Simon Roberts
- Esther Teichmann
- Olivia Pomp
- Roy Mehta
- Shirley Read
- David Vintiner
- Cameron Griffiths
- Katja Mayer
- Karl Ohiri
- Kathleen McGown
- Rosie Whitney-Fish
- Claudia Singer
- Lewis Bush
- Frederike Helwig
- Catherine Viellevoije
- Sasha Hitchcock
- Peter Dench
- Cheryl Newman
- Oliver Gapper
- Anne Pinxt-Braybon
- Nigel Grimmer
- Junko Mikuriya
- Vivek Vadoliya
- Christopher Coekin
- Tiffany Jones
- Nils Rikard Osterlund
- Rosy Martin
- Ophelia Wynne
- Giacomo Brunelli
Our graduates have landed roles in a dazzling range of fields, including:
- Fashion
- Editorial
- Advertising
- Fine Art
- Freelance photography
- Post-production
- Digital imaging
- Video editing
- Production
- Art buying and direction
- Picture editing
- Research
- Image management
- Marketing.
You may also like to consider further study at postgraduate level.
"On the course I get an opportunity to learn about other photographers and I’m also able to learn about other things such as art, performance, culture and fashion – all things that relate to the visual image and help inspire ideas for new projects."
Entry requirements
BA (Hons) course
BA (Hons) course with Professional Practice Year
The standard entry requirements* for these courses are one of the following:
- 112 new UCAS tariff points, see accepted qualifications
- Pass at Foundation Diploma in Art & Design (Level 3 or 4)
- Distinction, Merit, Merit at BTEC Extended Diploma / BTEC National Extended Diploma
- Merit at UAL Extended Diploma
- 112 new UCAS tariff points from an accredited Access to Higher Education Diploma in appropriate subject
- 27-30 total points in the International Baccalaureate Diploma with at least 15 IB points at Higher level, see more information about IB entry requirements.
And four GCSE passes at grade A*-C and/or grade 4-9 including English (or Functional Skills English/Key Skills Communication Level 2).
Other relevant and equivalent Level 3 UK and international qualifications are considered on an individual basis, and we encourage students from diverse educational backgrounds to apply.
BA (Hons) course with Integrated Foundation Year
BA (Hons) course with Integrated Foundation Year and Professional Practice Year
The standard entry requirements for these courses are one of the following:
- 64 new UCAS tariff points, see accepted qualifications
- Pass at Foundation Diploma in Art & Design (Level 3 or 4)
- Merit, Pass, Pass at BTEC Extended Diploma / BTEC National Extended Diploma
- Pass at UAL Extended Diploma
- 64 new UCAS tariff points from an accredited Access to Higher Education Diploma in appropriate subject
- 24 points from the International Baccalaureate, see more information about IB entry requirements.
And four GCSE passes at grade A*-C and/or grade 4-9 including English (or Functional Skills English/Key Skills Communication Level 2).
Other relevant and equivalent Level 3 UK and international qualifications are considered on an individual basis, and we encourage students from diverse educational backgrounds to apply.
BA (Hons) course with Integrated International Foundation Year
BA (Hons) course with Integrated International Foundation Year and Professional Practice Year
For these courses you need to have completed 12 years* of schooling (with good grades) and show strong evidence of your ability to successfully complete the programme and progress onto your chosen degree.
*We occasionally make offers which are lower than the standard entry criteria, to students who have faced difficulties that have affected their performance and who were expected to achieve higher results. We consider the strength of our applicants’ portfolios, as well as their grades - in these cases, a strong portfolio is especially important.
Don't meet the international entry requirements or English language requirements?
You may be able to enter the course through the following entry pathways:
BA (Hons) course
BA (Hons) course with Professional Practice Year
For these courses, we’ll need to see your portfolio for review. We’ll invite you to attend an Applicant Day so you can have your portfolio review in person, meet the course team and learn more about your course. If you would prefer to upload a portfolio digitally, there is also the option to submit it online via your UCA Applicant Portal. Further information will be provided once you have applied.
BA (Hons) course with Integrated Foundation Year
BA (Hons) course with Integrated Foundation Year and Professional Practice Year
These courses don't require a portfolio. If you receive an offer, you’ll be invited to attend an Applicant Day where you can meet the course team and learn more about the course.
BA (Hons) course with Integrated International Foundation Year
BA (Hons) course with Integrated International Foundation Year and Professional Practice Year
These courses don't require a portfolio. If you receive an offer, you’ll be invited to attend an Applicant Day where you can meet the course team and learn more about the course.
Apply Now
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UCAS Institution
C93
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UCAS Code for 3 year/standard
W645
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UCAS Code for course with Professional Practice
W646
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UCAS Code for course with Integrated Foundation Year
W64A
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UCAS Code for course with Integrated International Foundation Year
W64C
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UCAS Code for course with Integrated Foundation Year and Professional Practice Year
W64B
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UCAS Code for course with Integrated International Foundation Year and Professional Practice Year
W64D
Get in touch
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