Art of Photography

This is a new 30 weeks photography course aimed for beginners or those who have some previous background knowledge of photography. The emphasise of the course is being creative, exploring visual communication to help us understand the world we live in. By the end of the course you will have built a portfolio of images with the potential to exhibit.

The course covers traditional analogue to digital in a well-established photographic facility. Not only will you gain the practical skills in camera handling, darkroom and computer-based processes, but along the way you will be introduced to works by well-known photographers, which will subconsciously inform your own practice.

The facility boasts two studios with brand new Elinchrom lighting setups, digital and film cameras, 35mm, medium and large formats, a computer suite with adobe editing software, a large format printer which is able to print up to A1, a traditional wet bay darkroom with 19+ enlargers and light area for film processing and toning.

Please note this course runs term time only. You can view our term dates here

I value the enthusiasm and sense of possibility that you have created for us, developing our own meaningful work and exhibiting it. The quality of information & inspiration on this course is what I had hoped for at art college.
(Current Student – Jennifer)

Unfortunately, these classes have now finished, please register your details and we will inform you as soon as more classes become available.

Click here to register

What topics are covered?

The practical side of this course will cover the following:

Lens less photography,

Photograms and pinhole,

Digital and film camera handling,

Medium and large formats,

Black and white film processing,

Darkroom wet tray printing,

Advanced darkroom printing techniques and processes,

Studio lighting,

Still life and portraiture,

Adobe Photoshop basics and image manipulation,

Flat bed and film scanning,

Print presentation and mounting techniques.

How will I learn?

This is a hand on practical course with demonstration, discussion and exploration.

Note: you will need to invest your own time outside lesson hours, shooting and practicing technical theory that has been covered in lessons. Photography has a steep learning curve and a learn-by-doing approach is needed to embed camera control basics.

Prior to the first sessions, I would advise students to research on aperture, shutter and ISO camera control. This will give you a head start however it will be covered in the lessons.

About the Tutor

Your tutor, Graham Cook has 20+ years of experience in photography and print making. Graduating from the University of South Wales in Documentary Photography in 2007 and in 2019 a Master’s degree in Multidisciplinary Printmaking at the University of the West of England during which has been working within creative arts education since 2009.

What do I need to bring?

Note: Due to daytime equipment demands we are unable to loan out equipment over the week, therefore you will need to purchase (if you haven’t already got one) your own 35mm film SLR ideally with manual mode control (£60 upwards) and digital DSLR (£300 upwards) to be able to generate images outside class time.

Note : Cameras will be available in class time and you will be using film cameras from week 3 and shooting out in Cirencester on week 4.

I would recommend Ebay.co.uk for 35mm film SLR, Canon (EOS 500, EOS 3000n, EOS 3), Nikon (F80, F100, FM2) with a standard lens 28-80mm (approx) or a 50mm prime. MPB.com for second-hand digital equipment, Nikon, Canon, and Sony. There are a lot of cameras on the market, which can be confusing. If you need to discuss equipment needs, please email the tutor directly, graham.cook@cirencester.ac.uk

The analogue and digital printing part of the course is material dependent. Within the course cost, initial materials such as darkroom paper, film, negative bags, processing chemicals and digital printing are covered. However, it may be necessary further into the course for your photography to need extra resources.