Studying on the BA (Hons) Commercial Photography course will prepare you for a successful career in fashion, editorial, beauty, advertising, architectural photography, fashion film (moving image) and post-production or set and run photography studios and even set up a magazine (we have successful alumni doing all of this and more!).

You will learn outstanding and innovative advance image production skills with expert workshops and tuition. Contextual studies, professional practice (Mental Wealth) and entrepreneurial skills will be supporting your development and readiness for industry 4.0.

Interdisciplinary collaborations with students from our BA Design Interaction, Graphic Design, Illustration and Animation courses or with our award-winning fashion students, architecture or urban dance students will allow you to exchange skills, technical support and subject expertise across disciplines. Collaborative and interdisciplinary practice is what we do well and we have many examples of outstanding student projects commended by our industry contacts.

You will be encouraged to experiment and develop emerging technology such as AR/VR and eg. 3D technologies designed to give you edge in the competitive job market. We see these as future skills for fourth industrial age (4iR) in commercial photography.

You shall benefit from our progressive approach to learning through forward thinking and inclusive blended/ flipped learning and patchwork assessment, allowing you to make connections between modules, technical skills and research and your practice.

You will think critically to undertake complex problem solving, to be able to succeed in 4iR and beyond (we call this emotional intelligence).

Gain insights in our yearly cluster employability initiative Detour Ahead: Roadmaps for the Art and Design Industry, a week-long inter-disciplinary guest talk event as well as advice about copyright and licensing, freelancing and tax.  

• Guided independent study
We are investing in key areas beyond your studies including our career services, library and well-being, to be available both face-to-face on campus and online with many of these available 24/7. We have new, modern library facilities on both campuses offering inspirational environments for study and research. Libraries contain resources in print and digital formats, a range of study spaces and dedicated librarian who can assist with your learning.

• Academic support
Students are supported with any academic or subject related queries by an Academic Advisor, module leaders, former and current UEL students.
If you need a bit of extra help with certain skills such as academic writing, maths or IT, our Skillzone and English for Academic Purposes we offer workshops, drop-in sessions and one-to-one appointments to help our students achieve their potential. You can receive advice and guidance on all aspects of the IT systems provided by the university from our IT Service Desks located on all three campuses. Our Student Support hubs in Docklands and Stratford feature centralised helpdesks to cater for your every need. UEL provides also support and advice for disabled students and those with specific learning difficulties (SPDs).

• Workload
Each year you will spend around 300 hours of timetabled learning and teaching activities. These may be lectures, workshops, seminars and individual and group tutorials. Contact hours may vary depending on each module.
The approximate percentages for this course are:
Year 1: scheduled teaching – 300 hours; guided independent study – 900 hours.
Year 2: scheduled teaching – 300 hours; guided independent study – 900 hours.
Year 3: scheduled teaching – 300 hours; guided independent study – 900 hours.

The size of classes can vary depending on the nature of the course, module and activity. This can range from large groups in a lecture theatre setting, to smaller groups taking part in seminars and collaborative work. You will receive your personalised timetable at the beginning of the academic year dependent on your course.

Who will teach on this course

The teaching team includes qualified academics, practitioners and industry experts as guest speakers. Full details of the teaching team will be provided in the student handbook and module guides.

Teaching staff for this course include Dr Antigoni Memou.

The changes in digital technology and distribution has provided opportunities for the new generation of photographers and graduates, who are more able to adapt to the technological challenges and processes, but also opportunities in multi-disciplinary and expanded practice such as fashion films, moving image digital billboards etc., aided by high quality moving image capabilities of the current DSLR cameras.

The majority of the BA (Hons) Commercial Photography graduates will work as self-employed and/or freelance. They may start work as photography assistants gradually progressing into freelance photography or they may set up their own studios/ entrepreneurial ventures such as magazines. Increasingly graduates may take on roles such as producer, project manager, social media manager; digital marketing and design or marketing and PR.

The BA (Hons) Commercial Photography will offer not only technical and creative skills but opportunities in multi/ inter-disciplinary and expanded practices, prepare students on the course to bring interdisciplinary practices into their practice such as e.g. producing fashion films. Students and graduates may also seek opportunities to work with e.g. bloggers and other opportunities created by social media. The graduates are able to market to wider international audiences through platforms such as Instagram, gaining opportunities such as one of our recent BA Photography graduates getting retouching jobs through Instagram posts, now retouching for photographers working for high-end magazines such as Vogue.

We expect BA (Hons) Commercial Photography graduates continue to follow career destination that our current BA (Hons) Photography alumni have achieved.

Currently the BA (Hons) Photography course alumni work in wide range of careers such as: Freelance Photographer, Award-winning Feature and Documentary Director, Flight Test Photographer, Senior Photographer at NET-A-PORTER GROUP, Director of a Photographic Studio (The White Rabbit studio and Espero Studio), Co-director of Location Scouting Company, Fashion Photographer, Interior Photography, Portraiture Photographer, Property Photographer, Documentary and Portrait Photographer, Lifestyle, Portrait and Product Photographer, Videographer, Freelance Camera Operator, Digital Operator, Freelance Lighting and Digital Photographer's Assistant.