What's a placement year?
A placement is a programme available to most students that involves taking a year out from studying at university and going out into the big wide world to get some all important work experienceIntroduction
Explore and experiment with photographic practices by studying for our BA (Hons) Photography degree at Cambridge School of Art.
Learn to create images that tell compelling stories, whether your dream is to be a fashion or fine art photographer or a photojournalist.
As a photography student at ARU you’ll explore many areas of photographic practice including digital and analogue image-making, experimental crossovers, multimedia, self-publishing and exhibition.
Take full advantage of our specialist darkrooms, photographic studios, and digital post-production and printing suite. You can also borrow specialist camera equipment through our dedicated loan service.
You’ll be taught through individual tutorial and studio sessions, as well as in group lectures and workshops, with regular career development events throughout your study.
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All your work will be supported by academic staff working at the forefront of photographic research and innovation who have years of professional experience. This informs the design and delivery of our BA (Hons) Photography course, allowing us to respond to innovation in the sector, facilitate exciting industry-led projects, and speaker presentations. Our students are part of the organising committee for our Annual Public Photography Lectures which bring high-profile British and international photographers to ARU. Previous talks have featured Donna Ferrato, Laura Pannack, Anthony Luvera, Tom Hunter, Jane Hilton, Tim Flach and Hannah Starkey.
Through continuous experimentation, you’ll be encouraged to refine your photographic style and voice.
Critical and contextual studies will connect your own research and writing to your practice and will guide you to specialist resources in our campus library. Explore hundreds of photographers’ monographs and access technical and contextual texts, as well as other online resources, to underpin and expand your practice.
You can expand your skillset, with additional technical workshops including printmaking, 3D work and writing workshops. You can choose to take part in photography field trips too, and experience photographing different locations such as Venice and Prague.
While studying BA (Hons) Photography with us, you’ll learn to adopt a professional approach to your work, covering aspects of career management such as rights issues, project management and self-promotion through social media. You can choose to take up work placements that will help you establish your own professional network, including opportunities such as working for magazines, galleries and photographers. You can also take an optional placement year.
Studios and workshops
Our analogue and digital facilities include:
- colour and black-and-white darkrooms
- continuous, daylight and flash studios
- a digital post-production and printing suite
- specialist camera equipment including DSLRs, large format cameras, lenses, light meters and lighting kits that you can borrow for your work.
Specialist facilities
All our students have access to:
- the full Adobe Creative suite
- Apple iMacs
- wide-format printers and scanners
- vintage printmaking presses
- a letterpress machine.
Our team of technical officers will be on hand to offer training and support.
Take a closer look
Our Creative Showcase shines a spotlight on what makes ARU creative and cultural – our spaces, places and people. Find out more about our community, the difference we make, the stories we tell, and the things that inspire us.
Meanwhile, Present is an exhibition that you curate for yourself. Explore the work of our graduating students in this eye-catching virtual degree show.
Careers
Our BA (Hons) Photography degree will help you prepare for work in the photographic, creative and media industries, or for self-employment as a photographer or artist.
We work with employers to make sure you graduate with the knowledge, skills and abilities they need. They help us review what we teach and how we teach it – and they offer hands-on, practical opportunities to learn through work-based projects, internships or placements.
You can choose to take up formal or informal work placements that will help you establish your own professional network, including opportunities such as working for magazines, galleries and photographers. Our campus employment bureau can also help you find photographic jobs that fit around your studies.
Around ARU you can also take advantage of many opportunities to use and promote your skills, such as working with staff and students to photograph their events.
We also hold regular career development events featuring guest speakers, such as professional photographers Tom Hunter, Jane Hilton and Tim Flach.
My name is Kavisha Prince Anthony, and I always had a dream of studying abroad. Thankfully, that dream came to life since I applied to the Study Advisor. I was able to receive my visa within four days. I also had some visa refusals in the past; I had about six UK visa refusals in the past, but thankfully, it was not an issue since the Study Advisor was able to make things work this time. I highly recommend Study Advisor for your dreams of going abroad, whether it be the UK or any other European country there is.