UCW student profile, photography

The benefits of a photography degree with RPS affiliation


02/09/2020

Students starting the Photography in Practice degree at University Centre Weston (UCW) this month will benefit from its brilliant links with the Royal Photography Society (RPS).

The students will gain personal membership of the country’s biggest photography organisation at no extra charge, meaning they will join a community of more than 11,000 people who share their passion for all things lens-based.

Membership also offers lots of other perks, including invitations to great exhibitions and workshops at the new RPS building in Paintworks, Bristol, further learning opportunities, bi-monthly competitions and members-only offers and discounts.

UCW Photography in Practice students also undertook a successful Instagram takeover of the RPS account earlier in the summer, showcasing their work to its 38,000 followers when their end of year show was cancelled during lockdown.

The students will be also awarded a Licentiate distinction from the RPS when they complete their Photography in Practice degree, and can gain an Associate distinction if they then complete the BA (Hons) top-up degree in Lens-based Media at UCW.

The course itself provides the practical, academic and professional skills required to develop students’ own freelance practice, shoot on location or in a studio, or work within the wider creative industries.

It is taught at Loxton Campus – a facility dedicated to the creative arts with photography studios, darkrooms, Mac suites and exhibition spaces – with theoretical studies sometimes taking place at the new University Centre in the Winter Gardens on Weston seafront.

Sam Brooks, the coordinator of Photography in Practice at UCW, said: “Our affiliation with the RPS has recently been renewed for another year which is brilliant news at the start of the new academic year.

“Our students benefit so much by being members of our industry body, and it also means that their studies at UCW and careers are enriched with so many exciting opportunities.

“Just last year, for example, we held a symposium at their premises where our own students and alumni got the chance to present their work alongside professional photographers and visiting academics.”

FdA Photography in Practice at UCW is delivered in partnership with Bath Spa University.

Find out more about the course and apply now to start your degree later this month at www.www.ucw.ac.uk/photography.