Art and Design (Photography)

Course summary

Photography is a vast and creative industry that spans a multitude of businesses across the globe. Advertising, Fashion, Marketing, Environmental and Medical Photography as well as freelance careers are just some of the routes you can follow. It is an integral part of our daily lives and a form of visual communication that speaks to all. The Photography A-Level course will introduce you to a variety of experiences exploring a range of photographic media, techniques, and processes. It provides the perfect opportunity to learn to produce work at a professional standard, at the same time encouraging you to express your individual creativity and style through the work that you produce and explore. You will discover and experiment with new technologies as you explore relevant images, artifacts, and resources relating to Photography from around the world. Your visual and analytical exploration will be shown through practical and critical activities that demonstrate your understanding of the different styles, genres, and traditions. This course is designed to captivate you both creatively and intellectually and is well-suited to learners who are determined, independent, and driven by their own creativity. The first year will consist of several skill-based projects that explore and embed the use of exposure, DLSR camera functions, digital editing through Photoshop as well as creative methods of manual photo manipulation. Students will be introduced to the use of effective composition, lighting, and setting whilst exploring still life, portrait, and landscape photography. This in turn will act as a base to explore other photographic styles and conventions such as photojournalism, documentary photography, fashion photography, multimedia, photo installation, and experimental imagery. Students will also have the opportunity to be involved in trips where they can experience artwork and artifacts firsthand as well as shoot on location. Students must also be prepared to independently arrange and carry out photoshoots in their own time based on their own personal project direction and creative choices. The second year will initially focus on the completion of the personal study for component one and will move on to focus on the externally set assignment for component two culminating in an exam where students will be able to realize their intentions through a visual outcome.