BA [Hons] Photography

From fashion and advertising to contemporary art and digital media; creative photographers are highly sought after, and play a leading role in reflecting our increasingly visual society and culture. This is a rapidly evolving environment that affects a wide range of cultural sectors and activities.

What will I do?

  • Explore photography within the context of art, communications, the moving image and critical theory.
  • Access a unique range of facilities that allow you to engage with a variety of photographic technologies, including analogue darkroom processes, through to current, cutting-edge digital media.
  • Learn from staff at the leading edge of contemporary photographic practice and criticism.

What will I be able to do when I graduate?

Graduates work across commercial and contemporary art practices, including print, publishing and emerging media, both in Ireland and internationally. Many graduates work independently or have set up their own businesses.

What modules will I study?

Year 1

Photography and Culture; Photography and Communication; Photographic Workflow; Understanding the Photographic Image; Photography and the Studio; and Photography and Place; shared Introduction to Film, Art + Creative Technologies (FACT) module.

Year 2

Contemporary Photography; Digital Imaging and the Photobook; Modernism, Modernity and the Image; Photography and the Expanded Studio; Web-Design and Promotion for Photography and Society, Culture and the Image. In addition, you will choose one module from the bank of available Year 2 FACT electives.

Year 3

Contemporary Photography and Professional Practice; Photography and Curatorial Practice; Photography and the Moving Image; Photography and Ireland: Colonial and Post-Colonial Identities; Reflecting on Photography; and an Introduction to Photography and Entrepreneurship

Year 4

Final project and portfolio for the Graduate Exhibition is comprised of two modules titled, Minor Project and Major Project.

Mayo Residential Workshop

This project is undertaken by students from Year 2 and 3 of the course. The students explore many and varied aspects of the area and the photographs they produce are a personal response to the environment and culture of this very special part of Ireland. A book is produced which illustrates their response to the tasks they are set.

Cost for materials and/or field trips

Allow approximately €1000 per year plus exceptional purchases, field trips, preparation for exhibitions and national/international competitions. We advise you to budget for costs associated with the Graduate Exhibition in your final year.