Fashion Photography with Integrated Foundation Year

Develop your skills by entering the creative industries on an Integrated Foundation Year degree.

If you’re interested in taking on a new subject that you’ve not had the opportunity to study in depth before, or have been out of education for a while, then our Integrated Foundation Year courses might be for you. These four-year courses include an introductory year to help you build the core skills needed for specialist degree-level study.

This is a chance for you to let your imagination run wild and explore your creativity, expand your professional skills and develop enhanced subject knowledge in the domain you want to study. We’ll help nurture your expertise in problem solving, risk-taking, designing and making as you develop your abilities through five core modules.

After your foundation year, you’ll have a deeper knowledge of your subject, a clear understanding of your strengths, a developed practical and technical skill set and the confidence to excel in your chosen degree subject when you join other students for the rest of your course.

Guided by internationally published lecturers and renowned industry collaborators, you’ll become a daring, contemporary fashion image maker on our Fashion Photography course. Exploring ideas around identity, body politics, wellbeing and the environment, you’ll learn to weave impactful visual stories using a range of photographic and film approaches, as well as experimenting with immersive technologies.

Great fashion images are never made in isolation. So, you'll work closely with talent from across the creative industries. Throughout this Fashion Photography course, you'll collaborate with fashion designers, art directors, stylists, marketers and even game developers to build a visually arresting portfolio to take into industry.

You will:
Develop technical, design thinking and production skills in your chosen specialism.
Learn teamwork, leadership and project management skills through a variety of learning environments.
Develop critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills through the development of unique and innovative projects.
Complete your chosen degree over a four-year period.
Our guest speaker programme is next level. You’ll hear from world-leading practitioners, which have previously included Ben Weller (Photographer, British Vogue), Danny Reed (Fashion Director, The Face), Ewen Spencer (Photographer, Arena Homme+) and Mathew Whitehouse (Editor, The Face magazine)
You’ll pitch your projects to industry experts and work on live briefs set by renowned industry contributors. Students have previously worked with Amy Gwatkin (Filmmaker/Photographer), Kyanisha Morgan (Fashion Stylist, Dazed Magazine) and Matthew Holroyd (Editor, Baron Magazine)
Published by the likes of Acne Studios, Beauty Papers, i-D, Re-Edition, The Face and Vogue Hommes, staff have decades of commercial expertise and the contacts that go with it
We’ll support you to explore both traditional and emerging approaches to image-making as you experiment with analogue photography, 3D modelling, VR, photogrammetry and more

Throughout this Fashion Photography course, you’ll harness critical theory, creativity and technology to become a skilled, confident and original image maker. Working across film, photography and immersive technologies, you'll explore studio and location practices, high-end retouching, specialist editing techniques and fashion film. From catwalks to street style, we'll cover all areas of fashion. You'll learn about advertising campaigns, produce fashion imagery for clients, and create web-based work, fashion fanzines and designer lookbooks.

Foundation Year:
In your foundation year, you'll study five core modules: three short modules in the first study block and two in the second (one short, one long). These are all designed to help you explore the foundational elements of both creative practice and your chosen specialism. You'll gain relevant technical skills, learn to experiment and take risks, develop an understanding of professional practice, have opportunities to work across disciplines and collaborate with other students on live project briefs.

After your foundation year, you'll have a deeper knowledge of your subject, a clear understanding of your strengths, a developed practical and technical skillset and the confidence to excel in your chosen degree subject when you join other students for the rest of your course.

Modules:
Explore
Technique
Apply
Industry
Launch

Year one
Working with key themes surrounding fashion photography, you’ll gain the skills and contextual knowledge needed to start making strong, competent productions. You'll develop the foundations for research methodologies, collaborative practices and professional etiquette, working towards an ethical practice. You’ll also begin to build your fashion networks and community through specific modules with fashion stylists.

Modules
Subcultures and Styles
Handbook to Industry
The Body & Ethics
The Edit

Year two
In the second year, you’ll be supported to confidently produce complex and extended photographic projects that are backed by critical theory and intellectual enquiry. Through visual practice modules, you’ll engage in alternative forms of image making that test and blur the traditional limits of fashion photography and filmmaking. You'll also start developing the professional skills you’ll need to build a successful career in the creative industries – including collaboration and exploring the relevant distribution channels for your practice.

Modules
Fashion Film
The Commercial Image
Theories
Fashion Image

Year three
The final year of the Fashion Photography course is all about preparing for your transition from student to industry professional. Working towards the submission of a dissertation (or equivalent) and Final Major Project, you’ll further develop your unique vision as you work with selected global clients on professional briefs, building relationships with casting directors, location scouts, stylists, and creative directors.

Modules
The Client Brief
Investigations
Final Major Project
Professional Futures, Industry Ambitions

We regularly review course and module content to ensure our students receive a high-quality and rewarding academic experience. As such, there may be changes made to the curriculum which are not immediately reflected in the content displayed on our website. Optional modules may be updated to maintain the best experience. Any students or applicants affected will be informed of approved changes directly.

Foundation Year assessments are 100% coursework based.
Assessment will take place at the end of each module, and you'll get feedback and evaluation throughout the year. You'll be assessed through visual, verbal and written assignments, including your portfolio and a reflective journal. In your foundation year all assessments are pass/fail to encourage students to take risks and engage with the feedback provided.

Progressing in your specialism
Students studying on courses with an Integrated Foundation Year must successfully complete and pass all foundation modules before they can progress to the next stage of their course.

Your specialism
100% of your assessment will be coursework.

Assessment methods
Foundation year assessments are 100% coursework based
Continuous assessment of visual, verbal and written assignments
Portfolio submissions, support work and online presence
Final-year portfolio