Photography A Level

Course Highlights:
Students will be offered the opportunity to visit the Photographers Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery in London, to experience the work of renowned contemporary and twentieth century photographers at first hand.

Other subjects that work well with this course are:

• Media Studies
• Art
• Fashion and Textiles

Why study Photography at A Level?
Students will learn how to extend their existing specialist practical skills and knowledge from GCSE Photography, in terms of both their darkroom practice and their use of Adobe Photoshop CC. They will be encouraged to develop a more enquiring, subtle and individual approach to their interpretation of project briefs, whether they favour fine art photography or lean towards more commercial or graphic production aspects of the medium. They will also develop more confident, purposeful and fluent use of specialist terminology, to extend their critical analytical skills. This will enable them to effectively analyse both their own work and the work of other photographers. At this level originality, creative risk-taking and commitment are the keys to success.

Course overview

• Students will learn through individual tuition, practical demonstrations, independent study tasks and research.
• In Year 12 students complete a series of short induction modules, covering different aspects of advanced photographic practice, both technical and aesthetic, to fine tune and enhance their skills and knowledge of both darkroom techniques and Adobe Photoshop.
• Students enjoy the freedom to explore personal themes and ideas and to plan their own unique projects. Students are always welcome to use our specialist facilities in their private study time, to further extend their experience.
• Students will develop effective critical analytical skills and fluent use of specialist terminology. They will build their competence in the use of Adobe Photoshop to enhance and manipulate imagery to a higher level of sophistication – in addition to honing their darkroom practice. They will explore concepts and themes thoughtfully and with greater maturity.

Students studying Photography will:

• Have a chance to develop personal ideas and explore individual creative pathways.
• Explore and interpret issues and themes in imaginative ways using visual imagery.
• Investigate different aspects of technical photographic processes.
• Apply knowledge to building life-long skills in recording the world around you by looking from an inquiring and open-minded perspective.

Progression routes and future careers

• Transferable skills – creative interpretation, effective critical analysis, knowledge of Mac operating systems and Adobe Creative Cloud.
• Possible careers – photography, animation, film/TV production, graphic design, fine art, illustration, creative arts teaching.