Photography BA (Hons)

Anglia Ruskin University

Explore and experiment with photographic practices by studying for our BA (Hons) Photography degree at Cambridge School of Art.

Learn to create images that tell compelling stories, whether your dream is to be a fashion or fine art photographer or a photojournalist.

As a photography student at ARU you’ll develop skills in professional photography, multimedia, critical communication and exhibition.

Take full advantage of our specialist darkrooms, photographic studios, and digital post-production and printing suite. You can also borrow specialist camera equipment through our dedicated loan service.

You’ll be taught through individual tutorial and studio sessions, as well as in group lectures and workshops. You'll also benefit from regular career development events throughout your Photography degree.

Our BA (Hons) Photography scored 90% for Learning Resources in the National Student Survey 2023.

Studying photography at university will help you prepare for work in the creative industries, or for self-employment as a photographer or artist. Here at ARU, there's the chance to gain valuable experience and build a professional network through work placements.

All your creative work will be supported by academic staff working at the forefront of photographic research and innovation who have years of professional experience. This informs the design and delivery of our BA (Hons) Photography course, allowing us to respond to innovation in the sector, facilitate exciting industry-led projects, and speaker presentations. Our students are part of the organising committee for our Annual Public Photography Lectures which bring high-profile British and international photographers to ARU. Previous talks have featured Donna Ferrato, Laura Pannack, Anthony Luvera, Tom Hunter, Jane Hilton, Tim Flach and Hannah Starkey.

Through continuous experimentation, you’ll be encouraged to refine your photographic style and voice.

Critical and contextual studies will connect your own research and writing to your practice and will guide you to specialist resources in our campus library. Explore hundreds of photographers’ monographs and access technical and contextual texts, as well as other online resources, to underpin and expand your practice.

As part of your Photography course, you can expand your skillset with additional technical workshops including printmaking, 3D work and writing workshops. You can choose to take part in photography field trips too, and experience photographing different locations such as Venice and Prague.

You can also exhibit your work at exhibitions like Free Range in London, where industry reps will get to see your work. At the 2023 exhibition, two of our students, Mark Morgan and Erin Thorogood, were nominated 'Best in Show' by Amateur Photographer magazine. They follow in the footsteps of 2022 graduate Aliz Kovacs-Zoldi, who was selected as Student Photographer of the Year by the magazine.

While studying our BA (Hons) Photography degree, you’ll learn to adopt a professional approach to your work, covering aspects of career management such as rights issues, project management and self-promotion through social media. You can choose to take up work placements that will help you establish your own professional network, including opportunities such as working for magazines, galleries and photographers.

Industry-standard facilities

With your Photography degree at ARU, you’ll have access to all our creative facilities including:

• black & white and colour darkrooms, and black & white film processing room
• a bespoke digital suite with iMacs, flat bed and virtual drum scanners, and Epson professional large format inkjet printers
• three photographic studios with Profoto lighting and accessories
• an extensive range of analogue and professional digital cameras and lenses. including Canon, Sinar, Nikon, Pentax and Hasselblad
• Ruskin Gallery, a professional digital art gallery.