Photography MA
- Creative arts
- Postgraduate
Create compelling visual content. Kingston University’s bespoke Photography MA course will support you as an artist, giving you the skills and knowledge you need for a successful career in industry.
You’ll explore photography as an expanded, interdisciplinary practice. Disciplines studied include analogue, digital, new media, technology, still and moving image, installation, performance for camera and archive engagements.
Catch eyes and captivate imaginations
With its focus on contemporary issues and social theories, this course will help you develop transferable production and post-production skills.
Studying this masters in Photography at Kingston University is the perfect opportunity to develop your practice as a lens-based media artist.
During this course, you'll communicate and develop ideas, think independently about a wide range of practices, and reflect on the technological, political, environmental and social role of photography.
You’ll graduate with the specialist skills you need to work professionally as an artist, photographer, filmmaker and more.
At the end of your studies, you’ll showcase your work with a final exhibition and public showcase – a great resource for demonstrating your abilities to prospective employers and clients.
Being part of the course at Kingston University offered me a completely new view of what photography can do. I learnt just how versatile the medium is and how it can raise issues and awareness and express particular outlooks. Being a student at Kingston was – to me – not just a great introduction into the art industries, but also a huge asset for my own professional practice.
Student work
Doris Himmelbauer
My Summer 2015 Book
Juan S Ochoa
Self-portrait, Bogota 1993
Karina Holland
Tallest Woman in the World, 2015
Marta Szalyga
Untitled, 2017
Marta Szalyga
Untitled, 2017
Francesco Rocchi
Beauty Masks, 2017
Francesco Rocchi
Shaped, 2017
Francesco Rocchi
Shaped (portrait), 2017
Michel Gnahoua
Wax Hollandais, 2017
Michel Gnahoua
Wax Hollandais, 2017
Why choose this course
While you study, you’ll benefit from top quality teaching at Kingston University. Not only are we ranked Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework, we also provide a richly supportive environment with input from internationally recognised artists, photographers, curators and writers.
University museums and galleries
Kingston University has two on-site galleries, which offer exciting opportunities for career progression. Grade II-listed Dorich House is the former home of the sculptor Dora Gordine, while the Stanley Picker Gallery is one of the UK’s leading university galleries. Our Knights Park campus also has a bookable project space for large-scale exhibitions.
Workshops and studios
Explore, collaborate and share ideas in our state-of-the-art workshop facilities, designed by Stirling Prize-winning studio, Haworth Tompkins. Facilities are open to all Kingston University students, and include:
- 3D workshops, with spaces for ceramics, concrete, resin-casting, plastics, metalwork, woodwork, bronze-casting foundry, set design and large scale model making
- Animation and post-production studios
- A digital media workshop
- Knitting and sewing workshops with digital and analogue facilities, plus a working dress archive including from 1750 to the present day
- A HackSpace for collaborative, creative, solutions-focused projects
- A letterpress and printmaking workshop
- A moving image workshop, with studios, an editing suite and industry-standard equipment
- A fully-equipped photography workshop
The Art School Experience
As part of Kingston School of Art, students benefit from joining a creative community where we encourage collaborative working and critical practice.
Our workshops and labs are open to all disciplines, enabling students and staff to work together, share ideas and explore multi-disciplinary making.
Course content
This research-led course engages with the photographic in its widest sense (analogue and digital, new media and technology, still and moving image, installation, performance and engagements with the archive).
You will have access to all Kingston School of Art's workshops and be encouraged to experiment with the photographic in new and innovative ways as an artist.
Modules
The key emphasis of this course is on supporting and developing the direction of your practice led-research through tutorials, presentations, and regular seminar discussions where you will be taught how to research and conceptualise your work.
The range of critical theory extends across dialogical aesthetics, ethnography, post-colonial theory, globalisation, environmentalism, social justice issues, queer theory and gender-based debates, privacy and surveillance, politics of the internet and technological aspects of the photographic medium.
You'll take three modules, worth a total of 180 credits.
Core modules
Career opportunities
The Photography MA course offers far more than advanced technical training, it opens up diverse and meaningful career pathways across the creative industries. Through a strong emphasis on social engagement and critical practice, students develop work that connects with communities, public audiences, and cultural institutions.
Outreach projects and live collaborations with organisations such as Whitechapel Gallery, The Photographers' Gallery, and The Community Brain give students direct experience working beyond the university context. These partnerships provide professional exposure, curatorial insight, and opportunities to produce socially responsive projects—valuable preparation for careers in exhibition-making, socially engaged art practice, arts education, and cultural programming.
Students also engage with live briefs in collaboration with organisations such as Counterpoints Arts and Refugee Week. These projects connect photography to urgent social and cultural dialogues, encouraging students to work responsively with migrant and refugee communities. Through real-world commissions and public-facing outcomes, students gain experience in ethical collaboration, co-creation, and producing work for diverse audiences, strengthening their professional confidence and expanding career possibilities in the cultural and third sectors.
The course is further enriched by its connection to the Sound Image and Media Encounters research group within the Department of Film and Photography. This research-led environment encourages interdisciplinary exploration across photography, moving image, and sound, supporting students who wish to pursue careers in research, academia, curatorial practice, publishing, or cross-media production.
Graduates leave with a strong professional network, public-facing project experience, and a critically informed portfolio, positioning them for careers as independent artists, curators, educators, researchers, and creative practitioners within galleries, cultural institutions, and community organisations.
Student work
Gary Childs
Mirror Of The Unseen, 2017
Gary Childs
Mirror Of The Unseen, 2017
Gary Childs
Mirror Of The Unseen, 2017
Susan Benson
Return to Dust, 2017
Susan Benson
Return to Dust, 2017
Susan Benson
Return to Dust, 2017
Sean Wyatt
Between two bridges, 2016
Sean Wyatt
Between two bridges, 2016
Sean Wyatt
Between two bridges, 2016
Teaching and assessment
You'll be assessed through photographic practice, research portfolios, blogs, essays and oral presentations.
Fees and funding
Fees for future course years
Part time
If you start your second year straight after Year 1, you will pay the same fee for both years.
If you take a break before starting your second year, or if you repeat modules from Year 1 in Year 2, the fee for your second year may increase.
Funding support for postgraduate students
If you are a UK student living in England and under 60, you can apply for a loan to study for a postgraduate degree. Find out more through the government's website.
Scholarships and bursaries
Interested in studying an MA in Photography at Kingston? The following funding support is available:
Additional course costs
Some courses may require additional costs beyond tuition fees. When planning your studies, you’ll want to consider tuition fees, living costs, and any extra costs that might relate to your area of study.
Your tuition fees include costs for teaching, assessment and university facilities. So your access to libraries, shared IT resources and various student support services are all covered. Accommodation and general living expenses are not covered by these fees.
Where applicable, additional expenses for your course may include:
Student work
Hazel Davies
Polaroid Manipulations
Lin Y Lei
Untitled, 2016
Lin Y Lei
Untitled, 2016
Jiaheng Cao
Untitled, 2016
Leonida Crisafi
Untitled, 2014
How to apply
Before you apply
Please read the entry criteria carefully to make sure you meet all requirements before applying.
How to apply online
Use the course selector drop-down at the top of this page to choose your preferred course, start date and mode, then click 'Apply now'. You will be taken to our Online Student Information System (OSIS) where you will complete your application.
If you’re starting a new application, you’ll need to select ‘new user’ and set up a username and password. This will allow you to save and return to your application.
Application deadlines
We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Applications will close when the course is full.
After you apply
If the admission tutor wants to see your portfolio, we will email asking you to upload your zipped portfolio to the OSIS portal within three weeks. If we need more information or want to invite you for an interview, we will be in touch directly. After that you will then hear whether your application has been successful.
Course changes and regulations
The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Find out more about course changes
Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.
Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.
What our students and graduates say
Since graduating, I've worked for high-end fashion brands like Trussardi, Ray Ban, Armani, Levi's and Guess. I do worldwide campaigns almost every month and I have also started to work as a photo-reporter, collaborating with the National Geographic here in Italy.
Many of us arrived with narrow and restrictive views of what photography is, but we had ample opportunities to stretch our imaginations and develop and test out our visual ideas. The course leader supported each of us to work from our authentic concerns and interests through group and one-to-one tutorials. It was transformative.
