BA (Hons) Photography
- Study Mode: Full Time
- Location: High Wycombe
- Duration: Three Years
- Start Date: September 2027
You can also study this course:
Do you want to capture the world around you? Are you full of ideas and how to create powerful and innovative photographic images? Whether you want to specialise in editorial, fashion, product, portrait, documentary or arts-based photography, you can develop your skills and unleash your ideas at BNU.
With this AOP accredited photography degree, you will have the opportunity to turn your passion into your future career, with technical skills training, theoretical grounding, and practical opportunities.
The photography degree is an accredited member of the Association of Photographers (AOP). The course meets the AOP’s criteria for the appropriate professional development of students during their studies. This accreditation also offers all students on the course their own free AOP membership for the duration of their studies, providing them with additional support and networking opportunities.
At BNU we offer state-of-the-art photography facilities where you’ll have access to industry-standard lighting studios, wet darkroom, professional scanning suite and print bureau at our High Wycombe campus. As well as this you’ll benefit from your own mac suites, which host the full Adobe Creative Cloud, and professional printing area.
On quiet days you’ll find yourself spending time in the courses very own break out and teaching area, a light and open space to help you focus and let creativity flow.
You’ll also have access to a range of cameras and equipment (analogue and digital) available for loan to support their practice, including:
- Nikon and Canon lenses
- 5x4 Linhoff, Horseman and Cambo cameras
- medium format Bronica, Fuji, Mamiya film cameras
- medium format Pentax and Hasselblad digital cameras
- Godox, Neewer, Mecablitz and Canon camera top flash
Led by a dedicated and experienced course team, you’ll benefit from their industry knowledge and the industry links they bring to the course. You’ll get direct access to guest lecturers, who are specialists in the sector, and can benefit from live project briefs, master classes, and networking opportunities.
The course is also partnered with Alamy, a stock image platform, which offers students at registered institutions, a 2-year deal of 100% payment on any sales from submitted images.
We’re proud of the many achievements our students and staff attain at BNU. Throughout your course you will have the opportunity to take part in competitions and exhibitions as well as the BNU Summer Show in your final year.
Each year the College of Creative Arts, Technology and Engineering has between AA2A 3-5 artists-in-residence working alongside our students in various disciplines and accessing different facilities. Tutors also organise workshops and talks for their students, which are facilitated by the artists.
Students can also apply to become AA2A Student Ambassadors, which is great for those who are interested in photographic arts-based practice – this year, we have Photography AA2A Ambassador, Lilli Andrews.
Although our classroom sizes are small, as part of the College of Creative Arts, Technology and Engineering you’ll benefit from a practiced-based course, supported by contextual studies. You’ll also have the opportunity to work collaboratively across the College with other courses, ensuring you develop your engagement and networking abilities, as you would in the real world. Past collaborations have included Hair and Make-up, Costume Design and Set Design for Stage and Screen.
Our campus is situated in the middle of the rolling Chiltern hills, meaning you’ll have plenty of opportunities to get out and explore landscape photography.
We’re also only 30 minutes by train into London and close to Oxford and Reading. Meaning you can immerse yourself in the hustle and bustle of the city. You can also visit exhibitions, museums, and galleries, where you’ll find inspiration for your projects.
What will I study?
This photography course offers a contemporary curriculum that is engaged with social, technological, environmental, ethical and cultural perspectives, enabling you to become a ‘thinking practitioner’ or a socially responsible entrepreneur.
We will help you develop a conceptual and contextual understanding of photography, so you can find new ways to express yourself, and take your practice to a more dynamic level.
We’ll help you explore the concepts and contexts behind photography work, so you can find new ways to express yourself, and take your practice to a more dynamic level. You’ll also undertake research to develop a theoretical and critical underpinning of the subject, learning new ways of thinking and working, and pushing traditional boundaries of the medium.
One of my biggest takeaways from the course was the freedom to take complete creative control over my own work. That independence, combined with the mentorship and opportunities on offer, shaped a lot of the professional decisions I make today. Whether it was photographing alongside the hair and makeup students or gaining insights from industry photographers during seminars, those experiences gave me a strong foundation for the fast-paced, varied work I do now.BA (Hons) Photography graduate Ben Montgomery
In addition to learning about commercial and design applications (such as in editorial and advertising photography), you also will develop your knowledge of photography through its interactions with other creative subjects; for example, working in 3D environments to produce Computer-Generated images (CGI), exploring wet printing and alternative print-making techniques or experimenting with moving image and sound as a means of personal expression or visual communication.
As well as having the space to explore different types of photography, to see where your interests lie, we’ll make sure you understand the business side of working as a professional photographer.
You’ll learn how to best promote your photography and how to set yourself up as a freelancer, dealing with important aspects such as your own branding, marketing, to tax and finance. You’ll learn about the professional bodies that exist to protect photographers’ work and rights, such as the Association of Photographers. We’ll also look at how to develop your presence and present your work on different platforms, from the physical exhibition space to online websites, and how to evolve your practice to cater for different audiences.
How will I be taught and assessed?
At the centre of this course is practice-based activity. You’ll spend a significant amount of time developing your skills either shooting on location or using the Photography facilities (lighting studios, Mac Suite, darkroom etc.), working on both individual study and group tuition. On the course you are pushed to explore your own style, which you’ll build into your own distinctive portfolio that demonstrates your unique strengths and interests for prospective work opportunities after graduation.
During your time with us you'll study modules that encourage you to explore your own career aspirations and, through workshops from industry specialists, seminars and project critiques, we’ll also bring in guest lecturers through our dynamic visiting lecture programme to give you further insights on the diversity of the medium. You’ll hear from leading practitioners including artists, curators and professionals working across the industry.
You’ll also be assessed though individual or small group tutorials, portfolio submissions and presentations, written assignments, sketchbooks and group critiques.
At the end of your course, you’ll exhibit your photography work as part of our popular Art and Design Summer Show. There’s also the opportunity to show your work at other exhibitions, such as, Free Range, the big annual graduate show in London. It’s a chance to showcase your talents outside the University, and potentially catch the attention of future employers and talent scouts.
What I most enjoy about studying here is an opportunity to do what I love, whilst being taught by professionals who work in the industry. Their knowledge is always up-to-date with industry trends and they are passionate about their craft.Aleksandra Krol
What are the course entry requirements?
A typical offer will require a UCAS tariff score of: 88 - 112
UCAS points can be obtained through qualifications such as A levels, T levels, BTEC or an Access to Higher Education course in a relevant subject. Please list all your qualifications on the application form as you will be asked to provide copies when we receive your application.
A minimum of two full A-levels (or equivalent) is required. Every application is considered on an individual basis.
As part of the application process applicants will need to demonstrate portfolio work, further guidance is given on the portfolio advice document.
For further details of our international English entry requirements, please visit our international pages.
Modules
The module introduces you to cultural debates relating to photography’s unique nature, its historical development and current uses in a variety of settings. ‘Issues in Representation’ provides the theoretical framework of level 4 and operates in support of the practical modules.
In this module you are introduced to a variety of digital technologies and digital approaches to making creative work in new and innovative ways. Through participation in workshops you’ll build up a portfolio of experimentations.
This module teaches you to think about the photographic image beyond the single frame and to explore in practice the different ways this can be created. You’re encouraged to produce moving image and sound in response to set project briefs.
This module encourages the exploration and development of outcomes that demonstrates visual narratives can be meaningfully realised. In responding to specifically themed, guided projects, you’ll develop distinctive visual language to communicate your concept effectively.
This module encourages the exploration of image-based narratives realised through a meaningful development of screen-based as well as physical gallery-based outputs that convincingly communicate with an audience.
On this module you’ll be presented with key global debates which impact our lives and could influence your creative practice and positions as creatives in ever-changing professional industries. Through research and critical reflection, you’ll explore these issues which may be related to sustainability, politics and other ecological or socio- economic factors, and respond to them creatively using your chosen discipline-specific practice.
This module aims to support the employability of learners by encouraging them to consider and evaluate their photographic practice within a professional context, and to promote an understanding of the key considerations required to support practice. Learners develop their understanding about the structures and organisations which underpin professional practice in the creative industries, in particular an awareness of the diverse role of the photographer as practitioner in cultural and commercial areas beyond education. Learners are informed by various models of practice that seek to further enhance professional ambition and communication. This module provides learners with a solid framework for undertaking further self-directed initiatives and advanced exploration for further professional development in Level 6.
Through targeted research and critical analyse, you’ll identify approaches and responses, appropriate to specific audience demographics and platform, making informed choices about how your work is realised. This module will encourage you to develop a range of new skills and techniques that would be appropriate within a design-based commercial context.
The Research Strategies module is designed to introduce you to preparing and planning for your practice-based report in Year 3. Through a series of thematic lectures and seminars, the module provides a framework for you to understand and explore cultural knowledge, concepts in fashion, textiles, costume design and the broader field of art and design and popular culture.
This practice-based module focuses on the conceptual, creative and technical development, completion, and presentation, of a critically engaged project. Emphasis is on the exploration of contemporary art practices, their vocabularies and underpinnings.
This module asks you to consider the demands of the design-driven commercial world within contemporary photographic practice. In extending technical skills, you’ll work within the studio and on location to create product shots, publicity material and photographic advertising outcomes.
The module aims to equip you with current knowledge on issues of equality, diversity, and inclusion relevant to the creative industries. You’ll develop a sense of citizenship to help position yourself confidently and actively in your future professional roles - while also understanding the importance of identity, heritage and culture in relation to your practice. You’ll use your learnt skills to create a space for using diverse textual and visual language enabling you to build resilience and confidently present ideas in an academic and creative context.
This module will explore this business side of advertising. You’ll be asked to create a sustainable business based on a creative idea that you believe would be successful in today’s socially responsible and ecologically aware marketplace.This module aims to allow you to practise the wide range of relevant skills necessary to take this new brand, from a business plan to the advertising campaign, resulting in a presentation showing your entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen.
The aim of this module is for you to complete a proposal for your final major project, evidencing how it will be developed in response to substantial research on the sector and reflection on your previous practical outcomes.
This puts focus on knowledge and skills to support professional practice in the visual arts, design and the creative industries. You’ll develop in-depth knowledge of your chosen field of practice, which will support the critical appraisal process and inform the social and professional context for your work.
Through workshops, seminars, and one-to-one supervision tutorials, this module provides you with the support required for writing your contextual report on practice. This self-directed theoretical/critical and evaluative piece of written work consists of a detailed account of the critical references surrounding your final major project.
This module will enhance your understanding and appreciation of the roles, relationships, and responsibilities that can play a major part in progressing and sustaining your professional practice. Extending your work in relation to career aspirations, you’ll develop visual, verbal and written presentation skills to support communication with employers.
You are provided with an opportunity to sustain the creative dialogue between your research and subject-based practice, enabling you to establish your professional and creative identity through a self-directed brief/proposal.
What are the tuition fees
Home
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Home, Academic Year 2027 - 2028: £10,050 per year *
International
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Overseas/International, Academic Year 2027 - 2028: £15,910 per year *
Please note all of the 2026/27 fees stated are subject to parliamentary procedure. Tuition fees are expected to increase each academic year in line with the maximum permitted value set by the Government for that academic year. The expected rise for Home undergraduate students (including those on a foundation year course), may impact both new and continuing students.
Please note, distance learning and international fees are subject to change for 2027/2028 intake.
Additional costs
Your tuition fees cover most course costs, but you may need to budget for additional expenses. Students should budget approximately £100 per year for books and journals, alongside printing and exhibition costs which may range from around £50 per year to £500 in the final year, depending on presentation choices and project requirements. Additional equipment costs may include storage devices (approximately £250), optional laptops (£600-£2,000), specialist photographic materials (up to £150 per year), and a recommended DSLR or mirrorless camera with video capability. Optional costs may also include UK and overseas study trips, exhibition materials (£100-£500), and graduation costs estimated at approximately £100-£200.
Contact us
If you have any questions about the fees above, contact our enquiries team by completing this form.
I personally learnt so much throughout my time studying at BNU, not just about photography and the overall industry, but about myself in general. The course pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I did things I never thought I would do – I explored new areas of photography that I never dreamt of experimenting in, I met loads of new people and expanded my contacts within the photography world.
What are my career prospects?
Throughout your time with us we’ll support you on the route to your chosen career. We’ll help you to develop crucial skills, encouraging you to become enterprising, employable and good leaders. Our Careers and Employability Team also help you find employment after graduation.
Our BA (Hons) Photography course will help prepare you for a range of career possibilities, such as:
- Editorial Photographer
- Commercial Photographer
- Travel Photographer
- Teacher/Lecturer
- Digital Retouching
- Social and Events Photography
- Picture Researcher
- Exhibition Curator
- Sports Photographer
- Photojournalist
- Photographic Artist
You may also wish to stay on at Buckinghamshire New University and study a full-time or part-time postgraduate course.
BNU offered a higher level of photography facilities compared to the other universities, I was amazed by the equipment and could see myself learning in that environment.Sophie Boycot BA (Hons) Photography graduate
Course leader
