WHY PHOTOGRAPHY AT AS AND A2 LEVEL?

  • Photography is an increasingly popular option. As a qualification it can open doors in a huge variety of career paths including Fashion, Journalism, Film, Music, TV, Advertising and Publishing.
  • More and more students are opting for some kind of art or design course. Current popular choices include Architecture, Media, Graphics and 3-D Design. The ability to think and communicate visually is vital in all these fields.
  • In the world of work, different disciplines are depending more on each other: Advertisers and fashion designers need the photographers they hire to interpret their vision.
  • Making sense of our increasingly complex visual world is an entertaining, stimulating and extremely rewarding option.

THE COURSE

  • Photography at A level is an exciting creative option designed to introduce you to the potential of digital image-making as well as traditional ‘wet’ processing, whilst appreciating the historical role the camera has played for over 150 years.
  • The emphasis at AS is on experimentation and development, whilst the A2 course is tailored more towards final outcomes. By the end of the 2-year course you will have been introduced to most aspects and genres of photography, both artistic and commercial.
  • You submit a body of work at AS level which is made up of 4 smaller modules, whilst at A2 you produce a ‘Personal Investigation’, which is an extended photo essay on a theme of your choice giving you the opportunity to really engage with your chosen subject matter and build up a substantial portfolio of work. The AS course culminates in a 5-hour exam, whilst at A2 the terminal exam is 15 hours. Both exams take the form of extended practical units over an 8-week period from a choice of starting points.
  • The complete A-level course is tailored to suit your individual development. Practical tuition combines with theory, history and critical analysis to ensure a comprehensive grounding in the medium of Photography. As well as the timetabled lessons, many students take the opportunity to spend some of their free periods working on their individual projects, and location shoots around the island are a vital part of your learning process. Your work is exhibited often in a variety of exciting venues.

OPPORTUNITIES

  • Throughout the two-year course we will take advantage of the diverse range of temporary exhibitions available locally. Also there will be a chance to visit major national exhibitions and permanent collections.
  • Whenever they are available we like to bring in contemporary practitioners to show their work and to hold practical workshops designed to augment your practical skills(visitors in 2012-13 included internationally renowned photojournalist and street photographers Antonio Olmos and Michelle Sank).
  • You will be encouraged to enter your work in a range of competitions locally, nationally and sometimes internationally.
  • At every stage in the course your knowledge and understanding is enhanced and you continue to become stimulated by the vast array of ideas and approaches in a wider cultural context.

REQUIREMENTS

  • A GCSE grade of A-C in Art is recommended but not essential. More importantly, an interest in, and enthusiasm for, all aspects of Art, Design and culture is vital. An open mind and a desire to explore and respond to a variety of stimulii is expected. Access to a camera at home would obviously be ideal, but we do also provide cameras.
  • If you haven’t studied Art at GCSE levelyou may still have what it takes. Photography can be a matter of recording reality in a personal way or it can be a way of discovering your own personal reality.It is a rewarding subject for the observant student and one in which you will be expected to commit a lot of extra-curricular time.

2013 RESULTS

A2 students (10):

A* = 2, B = 7, C = 1

AS students (18): A = 3, B = 8 C = 4 D = 3

We currently have 32 students studying A level Photography