BA (Hons) Commercial Photography (Jan 2025 Start)

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The content of this course has been designed in close consultation with industry professionals so that you can be confident your learning will future-proof you for a dynamic and competitive job market.

From writing and making the most of your CV to gaining industry experience, the acquisition of professional skills has been written into the programmes of study by our staff teams, who have ‘real world’ experience. They are also supported by our Industry Liaison Groups, who help inform the development of the higher education curriculum. The commercial focus of this programme includes excellent business and professional practice sessions and the opportunity to work on live briefs, and work placements with a wide range of brands and media titles. Throughout your studies, you will have the opportunity to develop key transferable skills for employability in the creative industries and work in partnership with other sectors locally, nationally or internationally. As soon as you enrol on this programme, you will automatically become a member of the prestigious Association of Photographers (AOP) and you’ll work alongside our expert teaching and technical team, as well as practitioners from industry who’ll help you to develop the confidence to respond to client briefs while demonstrating excellent creative problem-solving. Our strong international connections also allow our students to take a semester of study with one of our partner institutions within Europe and North America, and in turn, we welcome overseas students from those institutions to join us in our studios, creating an exciting cultural exchange. Recent graduates: <ul><li>Andy Ford <a href="http://andyfordphotography.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">andyfordphotography.co.uk</a> – Freelance photographer for NME, Kerrang, Converse, SoccerBible</li><li>Grace Elizabeth Clarke <a href="http://graceelizabethphoto.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">graceelizabethphoto.com</a></li><li>Irina Iljina <a href="http://www.irinaphoto.co.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.irinaphoto.co.uk</a></li><li>Taylor Harford <a href="http://www.taylorharford.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.taylorharford.com</a></li><li>Codie Hobbs <a href="http://www.codie-hobbs-photography.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.codie-hobbs-photography.com</a> – Fashion photographer</li><li>Tony Cobley <a href="http://tonycobley.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tonycobley.com</a> – Commercial photographer</li></ul>Graduates become:<ul><li>Advertising Photographers </li><li>Commercial Photographers</li><li>Digital Retouchers</li><li>Digital Editors</li><li>E-Commerce Photographers</li><li>Editorial Photographers</li><li>Fashion Photographers</li><li>Lecturers/Teachers</li><li>Photographic Assistants </li> <li>Picture Editors</li><li>Producers</li> <li>Publishers</li><li>Stylists</li></ul>

Our Graduates

Suki Dhanda

British Asian photographer Suki Dhanda, whose portraits of subjects for The Observer and The Guardian include Blue Planet presenter Sir David Attenborough, former Prime Minister Tony Blair, singer and actress Rihanna, and artist Yoko Ono was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Arts University Plymouth (then Plymouth College of Art) in 2018. Suki is an alumna of Arts University Plymouth, and graduated with an HND in the late 1980s, coming to the college from Slough. During her Honorary Fellowship acceptance speech, she recalled her time studying at the university and how collaborating with other creatives from different backgrounds influenced her practice. Suki Dhanda successfully combines a career as a newspaper photographer with gallery and installation commissions showing work alongside the likes of Rankin and Turner prize winner Gillian Wearing. After leaving Arts University Plymouth, she spent the next three years as an advertising photographer's assistant and in the process assembled a portfolio by doing free shoots, notably for the music magazine Straight No Chaser. Her big break came when The Observer commissioned her to take photographs of mothers and daughters. It brought her a freelance contract that has sustained her wider practice ever since, in which she has captured portraits of some of the world's most famous faces. In 2018, Suki returned to Plymouth, where she began her photography journey, with a new exhibition commissioned by Arts University’s onsite art gallery MIRROR, titled ‘Race, Place & Diversity By The Seaside’. In shooting new portraits for this show, Dhanda spent six months visiting Plymouth, capturing local residents and visitors spending time relaxing with their friends and families by the coast, in a project that highlighted the possibilities of co-existing in a shared space. Provoked by Dhanda’s personal reaction to the 2016 Brexit vote, the work profiled a series of people who may have begun to question their sense of belonging and their place in the UK since the vote was cast. <a href="https://youtu.be/29VuNse5w_M">Click here to watch our Gallery Short featuring an interview with Suki</a> about the show, and <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/posts/in-pictures-suki-dhandas-race-place-diversity-by-the-seaside">read more on our blog</a>. Suki Dhanda was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from Arts University Plymouth in 2018 in recognition of her outstanding achievement in the arts. <a href="http://sukidhanda.com/">www.sukidhanda.com</a>

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Maia Cazzani

Based out of Tuscany, Italy, Maia graduated from BA (Hons) Commercial Photography in 2022 with a First Class Honours after previously studying Fashion Photography at Istituto Italiano di Fotografia in Milan. During her studies at Arts University Plymouth, Maia was shortlisted in the Association of Photographers Student Awards 2022 and had her work featured on the front of the Arts University Plymouth undergraduate prospectus. The same image is now featured on the side of the university’s Tavistock Place campus building.

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