Art and Design (Photography)

Course summary

There is no subject with more potential to touch on the ever changing world around us than Photography. Previous 6th Form students have explored everything from the politics and ethics of picture-taking, to documentary photography and film making, medical imaging through to astrophotography and the science behind the discipline. Photographers work from the opposite end of the spectrum to more traditional artists and draughts-people, in that in an instant they can capture reality with a one click of a button. Where a painter will start with a blank canvas and add to their interpretation of what they see, a photographer has to be selective and reductive often before they have even taken a picture. The course aims to teach students photographic literacy, that contrary to belief, the camera always lies and is often an ‘accessory to untruth’. It is a fun innovative course with many varied approaches and there is no requirement to have studied Photography before. Photography is taught as a specialism with a unique ethos set apart from Art and 3D Design.