Program Overview
The MA Fine Art (Photography) program at Bath Spa University empowers students to develop their artistic vision, experiment with lens-based media, and establish their professional practice. It fosters collaboration, interdisciplinary exploration, and risk-taking, nurturing students' skills and preparing them for success in the contemporary art world.
Program Outline
It offers a unique opportunity to learn from internationally accomplished photographers and artists in a purpose-built, interdisciplinary environment. The program emphasizes experimentation, risk-taking, and personal innovation, encouraging students to challenge their assumptions about artistic production and explore ways to progress within and transform the field. The program aims to help students:
- Develop an interdisciplinary and material-led approach to lens-based media.
- Identify their individual position as an artist.
- Learn to promote and exhibit their work professionally.
- Build collaborative relationships with other creatives.
- Develop transferable skills.
Outline:
The MA Fine Art (Photography) program runs over one year and is divided into three trimesters:
Trimester One:
- Students begin to take chances and challenge their creative processes.
- They interrogate their existing knowledge and develop skills in an environment that encourages playfulness and artistic risk-taking.
- They can experiment freely in a wide variety of specialist facilities, open studio spaces, and technical workshops, where expert support is on-hand.
Trimester Two:
- Students maintain an experimental approach but start to narrow their focus.
- They evaluate their initial studio developments and refine their working strategy.
- They are encouraged to pay greater attention to the presentation of their practice and to test how finished works relate to each other in, as well as to the spaces of, exhibition sites.
Trimester Three:
- Students work in the studio with increasing independence as they establish a professional practice.
- They devise and complete their Master's Project, working to a proposal which contextualizes their work within their specialist discipline and leads to their final Degree Show.
Course Modules:
The course includes or offers the following modules.
- Research Methods
- Theory and Professional Context
- Practice 1 (Fine Art)
- Research Practice
- Theory and Professional Practices
- Practice 2 (Fine Art)
- Masters Project
Assessment:
Your progress is evaluated throughout the course and at the end of each trimester through a mixture of:
- Exhibitions
- Verbal/visual presentations
- Research folders/blogs
- Written assignments
Teaching:
Students learn through:
- Lectures
- Talks
- Taught sessions
- Individual and group tutorials
- Studio critiques and seminars
- Visiting lecturers and seminars with external professionals and internationally renowned designers and artists The program's collaborative structure also means that students learn from each other. For instance, photography students might engage in debates with painting or curatorial students. Technical Demonstrators, who manage the workshop facilities, provide teaching and support across a wide range of and subject specialisms. Learning is also supported by specialist librarians.
Careers:
The program provides students with a wealth of indispensable digital skills that they can take into their future career. As one of only three Adobe Creative Campuses in the UK, Bath Spa provides all students with access to the full Adobe Creative Suite.
Other:
- Students have the opportunity to collaborate with galleries and museums, artists and curators, businesses and educational institutions.
- Field trips are offered throughout the academic year.
- Students can participate in competitions and awards, such as the Porthleven Prize and Emerge studio residency.
2024 entry Student Annual tuition fee UK full time £9,520 UK part time £4,760 International full time £17,760
