Photography MA

Why choose this course?

The course is highly bespoke, to support you as an artist working with the photographic as an expanded and interdisciplinary practice (analogue and digital, new media and technology, still and moving image, installation, performance for camera and engagements with the archive).

With an emphasis on contemporary urgencies and socially-engaged practices, this course offers transferable skills in the production and post-production of images through the communication and development of ideas.

Modules are designed to encourage independent thinking over a wide range of practices and theories reflecting on the technological, political, environmental and social role of the practice.

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Mode Duration Attendance Start date
Full time 12 months 2–3 days per week September 2025
Part time 24 months 1–2 days per week September 2025
Main Location Kingston School of Art, Knights Park
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Reasons to choose Kingston

  • Be part of a rich and supportive environment with input from internationally recognised artists, photographers, curators and writers. You will have the opportunity to develop your practice as an artist working with lens-based media.
  • You will have access to all facilities across photography (analogue and digital suites, a wet darkroom and photo studios) film, animation, printmaking and 3D workshops to develop your practice as an artist.
  • Studies culminate in a final exhibition and publication to showcase your work.

The Art School Experience

As part of Kingston School of Art, students on this course benefit from joining a creative community where collaborative working and critical practice are encouraged.

Our workshops and studios are open to all disciplines, enabling students and staff to work together, share ideas and explore multi-disciplinary making.

Explore our world-class facilities
Two students collaborate on a design project.

What you will study

This research-led course engages with the photographic in its widest sense (analogue and digital, new media and technology, still and moving image, installation, performance and engagements with the archive).

You will have access to all Kingston School of Art's workshops and be encouraged to experiment with the photographic in new and innovative ways as an artist.

 

Modules

The key emphasis of this course is on supporting and developing the direction of your practice led-research through tutorials, presentations, and regular seminar discussions where you will be taught how to research and conceptualise your work.

The range of critical theory extends across dialogical aesthetics, ethnography, post-colonial theory, globalisation, environmentalism, social justice issues, queer theory and gender-based debates, privacy and surveillance, politics of the internet and technological aspects of the photographic medium.

You'll take three modules, worth a total of 180 credits.

Core modules

Critical Theory in Photography and Visual Culture

30 credits

Critical Theory in Photography and Visual Culture enables students to develop an independent and critical approach to photography and artistic practices.

Photographic theory is understood here as enquiry across the broad field of photo-culture. Students will be introduced to concerns that include (but are not limited to): racial politics, rapid environmental damage, surveillance, and technological growth under late capitalism. Students will be encouraged to consider how photography and the photographic process are entangled in these contemporary concerns and will use them to develop a critical context for their developing practice.

Students' enquiries and analysis of the field of photography and visual culture are developed through seminars and presentations by staff and students. Students' knowledge and critical skills are assessed through the submission of a 3000-4000 word written essay and a verbal research presentation.

Guidance is given to help students identify key texts related to the concerns within their practice and how to present to the group within a seminar format.

Students' insights about their practice are advanced and confidence in speaking about their work built by requiring that each student give an artist's talk as an 8–10-minute presentation, based on their research and the historical and contemporary frameworks relevant to their emerging practice.

Students are encouraged to engage with practices and concepts in contemporary photographic discourse that are relevant to their interests by identifying their field of context and setting their research objectives and particular trajectories concerning their own photographic/artistic practice.

Photography in Context

60 credits

Students will focus on professional practice activities supported by site visits, tutorials, group seminars, critiques and informal presentations that deepen their understanding of how their work and artistic profile can be situated within a contemporary professional framework.

Photography in context is designed to support creative photo-practice by engaging students with a diverse range of practical and professional skills, approaches to planning, producing, exhibiting, and disseminating photographs – across expanded definitions of the photographic.

Initial skills acquisition and key inductions will take place in analogue and digital resources and processes, studio and lighting workshops and different camera formats as well as access to screen printing, animation and moving image and the 3D workshops.

Seminars cover professional development in regard to both the private and public sector including an understanding of the processes necessary to initiate and realise projects (such as liaison, cost implications, fund-raising, developing and presenting proposals, and collaborative working structures) and relevant skills to disseminate ideas and documents of work.

Expanded Photography Practices

90 credits

Expanded Photography Practices enables students to realise a body of photographic-based work that is coherent, innovative, conceptually resolved and technically competent, for physical and/or digital exhibition and publication.

This module culminates in the presentation of a body of work with an emphasis on research, production and process and the ability of the student to position their work within the wider context of photography and contemporary art. Students are also required to submit a publication online (this may be digital, or documentation of a physical publication), and a 150-300 word artist's statement which serves as an introduction to the body of work for audiences.

Students conceive and develop a substantial body of work through self-initiated research supported by a combination of tutorials, group seminars, critiques, and informal presentations.

Students gain through experience a mature, discursive approach that develops a critical and theoretical framework to contextualise their practice, as well as advancing their editing and production skill in assembling a sophisticated body of work. Students will be encouraged to consider the expansive context of the photographic and will be supported to develop a practice that is in line with the rapidly changing and diverse field of photography.

Entry requirements

Typical offer

The minimum entry qualifications for the field are:

  • A 2:2 or above honours degree in photography or in a related art and design subject area.
  • Applicants with other academic qualifications, or relevant work experience, will be considered on an individual basis.
  • A portfolio of work reflecting your experience and skills will be requested of you after the application has been submitted.

Portfolio guidelines

We would like to understand more about you and your practice, as well as your aptitude and motivations for studying on this course. We will be reviewing your portfolio with four key values in mind: questioning, curiosity, technical ability, and enthusiasm. Your portfolio should demonstrate these values through your strengths, abilities and experiences in research, photography practices and interdisciplinary approach.

We are looking for your potential to succeed on the course and welcome applications from those with diverse experiences or educational backgrounds.

Your portfolio should include:

  • Photography in its widest context, other lens-based media, and artistic practice.
  • A written personal statement (up to 400 words) or a link to a video (no longer than 5 minutes), introducing yourself and outlining relevant skills, experience, and areas of interest regarding your research and artistic practice.

You may want to consider:

  1. Your aims and ambitions for study.
  2. Specific areas of interest you wish to pursue.
  3. Your proposed approach and methods you may use.
  4. Relevant theoretical texts/literature.

Digital portfolio format requirements:

  • A portfolio of 15–20 pages, landscape orientation and saved/uploaded as a print-based or interactive PDF file.
  • Include project titles and a brief description of each project explaining your intentions and your individual involvement if presenting a group project.
  • Moving image works should not exceed 5 minutes in total and should be uploaded to Vimeo or YouTube – please supply these links in your portfolio and make sure they are active and work on all platforms.
  • Ensure that images are of a high quality and at least 72 dpi.

International

All non-UK applicants must meet our English language requirement, which is Academic IELTS of 6.5 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in all elements. Make sure you read our full guidance about English language requirements, which includes details of other qualifications we consider.

Applicants who do not meet the English language requirements could be eligible to join our pre-sessional English language course.

Applicants from recognised majority English-speaking countries (MESCs) do not need to meet these requirements.

Country-specific information

You will find more information on country-specific entry requirements in the International section of our website.

Find your country:

Teaching and assessment

You'll be assessed through photographic practice, research portfolios, blogs, essays and oral presentations.

Guided independent study (self-managed time)

When not attending timetabled sessions, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This typically involves reading and analysing articles, regulations, policy documents and key texts, documenting individual projects, preparing coursework assignments and completing your PEDRs, etc.

Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, the library and CANVAS, the University's online virtual learning platform.

Support for postgraduate students

At Kingston University, we know that postgraduate students have particular needs and therefore we have a range of support available to help you during your time here.

Your workload

A course is made up of modules, and each module is worth a number of credits. You must pass a given number of credits in order to achieve the award you registered on, for example 360 credits for a typical undergraduate course or 180 credits for a typical postgraduate course. The number of credits you need for your award is detailed in the programme specification which you can access from the link at the bottom of this page.

One credit equates to 10 hours of study. Therefore 180 credits across a year (typical for a postgraduate course) would equate to 1,800 notional hours. These hours are split into scheduled and guided. On this course, the percentage of that time that will be scheduled learning and teaching activities is shown below. The remainder is made up of guided independent study.

  • 19% scheduled learning and teaching

The exact balance between scheduled learning and teaching and guided independent study will be informed by the modules you take.

Your course will primarily be delivered in person. It may include delivery of some activities online, either in real time or recorded.

How you will be assessed

Assessment typically comprises a written dissertation and practical work with presentations/exhibitions, blogs, portfolios and critical reflective statements. The approximate percentage for how you will be assessed on this course is as follows:

Type of assessment

Type of assessment
  • Coursework: 93%
  • Practical: 7%

Feedback summary

We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 20 working days.

Class sizes

To give you an indication of class sizes, this course normally enrols 15–25 students.

Most taught sessions are 15–25 students. However, some lectures are shared with other courses, which can total between 30–90 students.

Who teaches this course?

The teaching team fosters a strong year group ethos. Many shared and group activities create a rich and supportive learning and working environment. The staff team consists of internationally-recognised, research-active academics and visiting speakers and lecturers.

Seàn Wyatt

Course director

Dr Felicity Hammond

Mr Nelson Douglas

Dr Judy Rabinowitz Price

Mr Diego Ferrari

Professor Ken McMullen

2025/26 fees for this course

Home 2025/26

  • MA full time £13,500
  • MA part time £7,425

International 2025/26

  • MA full time £22,800
  • MA part time £12,540

2024/25 fees for this course

Home 2024/25

  • MA full time £12,900
  • MA part time £7,095

International 2024/25

  • MA full time £21,900
  • MA part time £12,045

Tuition fee information for future course years

If you start your second year straight after Year 1, you will pay the same fee for both years.

If you take a break before starting your second year, or if you repeat modules from Year 1 in Year 2, the fee for your second year may increase.

Postgraduate loans

If you are a UK student, resident in England and are aged under the age of 60, you will be able to apply for a loan to study for a postgraduate degree. For more information, read the postgraduate loan information on the government's website.

Scholarships and bursaries

Kingston University offers a range of postgraduate scholarships, including:

If you are an international student, find out more about scholarships and bursaries.

We also offer the following discounts for Kingston University alumni:

Additional costs

Depending on the programme of study, there may be extra costs that are not covered by tuition fees which students will need to consider when planning their studies. Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessment and operating University facilities such as the library, access to shared IT equipment and other support services. Accommodation and living costs are not included in our fees. 

Where a course has additional expenses, we make every effort to highlight them. These may include optional field trips, materials (e.g. art, design, engineering), security checks such as DBS, uniforms, specialist clothing or professional memberships.

Textbooks

Our libraries are a valuable resource with an extensive collection of books and journals as well as first-class facilities and IT equipment. You may prefer to buy your own copy of key textbooks, this can cost between £50 and £250 per year.

Computer equipment

There are open-access networked computers available across the University, plus laptops available to loan. You may find it useful to have your own PC, laptop or tablet which you can use around campus and in halls of residences. Free WiFi is available on each of the campuses. You may wish to purchase your own computer, which can cost £100 to £3,000 depending on your course requirements.

Photocopying and printing

In the majority of cases written coursework can be submitted online. There may be instances when you will be required to submit work in a printed format. Printing, binding and photocopying costs are not included in your tuition fees, this may cost up to £100 per year.

Travel

Travel costs are not included in your tuition fees but we do have a free intersite bus service which links the campuses, Surbiton train station, Kingston upon Thames train station, Norbiton train station and halls of residence.

Materials

You will have access to a range of facilities and resources, however you will need to purchase art materials which will cost you between £100-£1,000* depending on your project.

You will receive advice from tutors on sourcing any specialist equipment. Please note that these are approximate costs which vary each year and with every student.

*Academic performance is not determined by how much is spent on a final project.

Field trips

There may be optional study visits and field trips. These range from £25 for local trips to various costs for international trips.

External shows and exhibitions

There may be costs for participating at external shows and exhibitions. You could incur travel costs which will vary according to the location.

Facilities

There is a wide range of facilities at our Knights Park campus, where this course is based. Kingston School of Art has recently completed an ambitious programme of investment, making significant improvements to our workshops and other resources, to ensure that students are exposed to as many creative pathways as possible. The workshops and studios at Knights Park are open for creative exploration and allow opportunities for students and staff to collaborate on projects and share ideas, whether they are studying or researching. There are many adaptable studio and workshop spaces, active breakout spaces and stronger vertical and horizontal connections. Our ground-breaking facilities include the following:

  • 3D workshop, with ceramics, concrete, resin-casting, plastics, metalwork, woodwork and a bronze-casting foundry, as well as a Big Build space for Architecture, set design and large scale model making
  • Animation and post production studios
  • Digital Media workshop
  • Fashion (knitting and sewing workshops), with digital and analogue facilities, plus a working dress archive which includes pieces from 1750 to the present day
  • HackSpace (for collaborative, creative, solutions-focussed projects)
  • Letterpress and printmaking workshop, with digital and analogue facilities, to experiment creatively
  • Moving Image workshop, with studios, editing suite, and industry-standard equipment
  • Photography workshop, including studios, colour, and black and white darkrooms, processing facilities.  This professional-standard suite includes two new digital imaging areas, darkroom areas, two double height photography studios and a general preparation, finishing and demonstration area. There is also an extensive range of equipment for loan and students are able to purchase photography materials. The colour and black and white darkrooms provide extensive facilities for film processing.

All our facilities are open access, meaning you can use them whenever you want, whatever degree you're studying.

The University also has its own on-site galleries, including:

  • Dorich House - the former studio home of the sculptor Dora Gordine and her husband the Hon. Richard Hare, a scholar of Russian art and literature. Now Grade II listed, the building was completed in 1936, to Gordine's design, and is an exceptional example of a modern studio house created by and for a female artist.
  • Stanley Picker Gallery - one of the leading examples of a university gallery in the UK. Its public activities are dedicated to the research, commissioning and presentation of innovative new practice across the fields of art, design and architecture for general, academic and specialist audiences.
  • Project spaces at Knights Park campus, which you can book for the exhibition of large-scale work. 
Explore the facilities at Kingston School of Art

After you graduate

Graduates have gone on to do a PhD and become professional artists, photographers, filmmakers, curators, teachers in higher education, and editorial and fashion photographers.

What our graduates say

Kingston School of Art is a special learning environment. The course itself was transformative and life changing. The course leader had a knack for 'seeing' the unexpected in our work. She supported each of us to work from our authentic and genuine concerns and interests through group and one-to-one tutorials. The course is student-centred and has agency. I think that many of us arrived with narrow and restrictive views of what photography is – the visiting programme and Q&A's offered us ample opportunities to stretch our imaginations and to develop and test out our visual ideas. The course is longer than average and so the initial stages of the course gave each of us the space to participate in extra-mural forums, seminars, lectures and activities. The visits to galleries and talks with the galleries and curators, Ken McMullen's lectures and the various opportunities to deepen our understanding of aesthetics are unique opportunities to understand the role and place of photography within the ever-widening art world. I was engaged with social and environmental concerns and learned how to communicate through visual language and aesthetics.

The interim show in the Platform Gallery and then the graduation show at the Stanley Picker Gallery were crucial processes that we went through enabling us to understand our responsibilities to our audience and to each other within a group exhibition context. Publications are an important aspect of photography and we were encouraged to work closely with the printing and book-making department. Kingston has a huge amount of resources that includes a wide range of photography journals, magazines and photo books. The photography public presentation programme benefits immensely from the editorial expertise of both the academic and the technical team.

Jacqueline Ennis Cole

Since graduating I've worked for high fashion brands like Trussardi, Ray Ban, Armani, Levi's and Guess. I do worldwide campaigns almost every month and I have also started to work as a photo-reporter, collaborating with the National Geographic here in Italy. The years at Kingston were some of my favourite moments in my whole life; not only with practising photography but in terms of relationships and artistic dialogues.

A month ago, one of my campaigns was on a monitor right in Times Square in NY, and it was shot with the technique that I was shown in the photography studio at Kingston; the composition was inspired by one of my other classmates' final exhibitions. You and Kingston School of Art are in every shot I take, in every one of the 25 countries I visited this past year, and in the eyes of every top model I photograph!

Franscesco Rocchi

Being part of the MA Fine Art Photography course at Kingston University offered me a whole new approach to the field of photography. Before I started at Kingston, I'd been working in the industry for several years, mainly in the commercial and industrial sector. Although I had a lot of experience in the medium of photography, I never actually gave a lot of attention to the arts aspect of it.

Being tutored by the course leaders, I got a completely new view of what photography is and what it can do: how versatile this medium is and how it helps one to address certain topics, to raise issues and awareness or how to express an outlook on specific topics.

The course showed me that it was not only important what is being communicated, but also how the message is communicated. There is always more to a photograph than the bare photograph itself. Being a student at Kingston was - to me - not just a great introduction into the art industries, but also a huge asset for my own professional practice.

Doris Himmelbauer

I think the MA was the greatest experience I've had with photography until now. I learned so much and I think it was at that point (although I was working as a professional photographer already) that I really became a professional.

It was pretty intense, perhaps especially for me, because I took it very seriously; sometimes it was tough, but I could acquire a knowledge of how a project should be done, pay attention to the details, to communicate what you want to say with your photography and, specially, to have something to communicate with it. I think the facilities were amazing – I miss using the dark room, the big studio and even the woodwork space. It was a distinguishing experience.

Luisa Riekes

Student work

Doris Himmelbauer - My Summer 2015 book
Doris Himmelbauer
My Summer 2015 book
Juan S Ochoa - Self-portrait, Bogota 1993
Juan S Ochoa
Self-portrait, Bogota 1993
Karina Holland - Tallest Women in the World, 2015
Karina Holland
Tallest Women in the World, 2015
Marta Szalyga - Untitled, 2017
Marta Szalyga
Untitled, 2017
Marta Szalyga - Untitled, 2017
Marta Szalyga
Untitled, 2017
Francesco Rocchi - Beauty Masks, 2017
Francesco Rocchi
Beauty Masks, 2017
Francesco Rocchi - Shaped, 2017
Francesco Rocchi
Shaped, 2017
Francesco Rocchi - Shaped (portrait) 2017
Francesco Rocchi
Shaped (portrait) 2017
Gary Childs - Mirror Of The Unseen, 2017
Gary Childs
Mirror Of The Unseen, 2017
Gary Childs - Mirror Of The Unseen, 2017
Gary Childs
Mirror Of The Unseen, 2017
Gary Childs - Mirror Of The Unseen, 2017
Gary Childs
Mirror Of The Unseen, 2017
Michel Gnahoua - Wax Hollandais
Michel Gnahoua
Wax Hollandais
Michel Gnahoua - Wax Hollandais, 2017
Michel Gnahoua
Wax Hollandais, 2017
Luisa Riekes - Under Deceptive Progress, 2017
Luisa Riekes
Under Deceptive Progress, 2017
Luisa Riekes - Under Deceptive Progress, 2017
Luisa Riekes
Under Deceptive Progress, 2017
Luisa Riekes - Under Deceptive Progress, 2017
Luisa Riekes
Under Deceptive Progress, 2017
Luisa Riekes - Under Deceptive Progress 2017
Luisa Riekes
Under Deceptive Progress 2017
Susan Benson - Return to Dust, 2017
Susan Benson
Return to Dust, 2017
Susan Benson - Return to Dust, 2017
Susan Benson
Return to Dust, 2017
Susan Benson - Return to Dust, 2017
Susan Benson
Return to Dust, 2017
Sean Wyatt - Between two bridges, 2016
Sean Wyatt
Between two bridges, 2016
Sean Wyatt - Between two bridges, 2016
Sean Wyatt
Between two bridges, 2016
Sean Wyatt - Between two bridges, 2016
Sean Wyatt
Between two bridges, 2016
Hazel Davies - Polaroid Manipulations
Hazel Davies
Polaroid Manipulations
Lin Y Lei - Untitled, 2016
Lin Y Lei
Untitled, 2016
Lin Y Lei - Untitled, 2016
Lin Y Lei
Untitled, 2016
Jiaheng Cao - Untitled, 2016
Jiaheng Cao
Untitled, 2016
Leonida Crisafi - Untitled, 2014
Leonida Crisafi
Untitled, 2014

Film and photography research at Kingston School of Art

Based in the Department of Film & Photography, the Visible Institute research group develops practice-based research, discursive frameworks and a culture of innovation. Film and photography are intermediate and medium-specific - connecting with - yet remaining distinct from other media. Visible Institute answers a need for concentrated lens-based research spanning the potential of both practices. 

The name Visible Institute (VI) transmits the magic of film and photography, alludes to the latent image and suggests emerging and unexpected encounters. 

VI is situated within KSA (Kingston School of Art), Kingston University, London.

Visible Institute explores still and moving image, relative to a number of identified research thematics. These categories are indicative points of intersection, framing the work of our researchers and practitioners. The Visible Institute engages with the importance of the genesis of film and photography, looks to expand genre definitions and promotes engagement with film and photography's special relationship with the document and the archive.

Our aim is to ensure informed - specialist and interdisciplinary - projects and challenging practice-based media emerge from within an institute that provides breadth and inclusivity, working across disciplines and set within a number of registers, through which film, photography and the moving image operate.

Visual Institute themes:

  • haptics: touch, sense and contact;
  • archive and the junction between documentary & fiction;
  • transfiguration, mythology, ethnography;
  • political, social, ethnicity, poetic, participatory;
  • ecology, landscape, life-worlds;
  • species discourses and film ethics;
  • philosophy, psychoanalysis, hauntology and the image;
  • the animated cusp of still and moving image;
  • science and lens-based media; and
  • pioneers: the genesis of film & photography

Course changes and regulations

The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Course changes explained.

Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.

Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.

Related courses

Film Studies MA

Filmmaking MA