Fashion Photography with Foundation BA Honours

Course summary

Our degree courses with Foundation year offer the opportunity to prepare you for advanced study before you progress on to a full honours degree at the University of Westminster. Whether you do not feel ready for degree-level study, don’t have the right qualifications, want to change your subject specialism or return to study after an absence from education, we aim to encourage a broad range of students to undertake our Foundation year in order to progress on to their full honours degree with us.

Our Foundation year in Art and Design is designed to provide you with an introduction to our range of subject areas, and to prepare you for the discipline of your choice. It will give you the opportunity to explore new ideas, opening up new perspectives on the key debates within the field. It begins in the first semester with the development of fundamental art and design skills, as well as practical exploration across all of the disciplines in our Art and Design Foundation programme. In the second semester you are encouraged to specialise in your own discipline and are supported at this stage by tutors from your host course. You will also benefit from workshops in our high-end facilities, and from working with leading academics who will encourage you to become a confident and creative thinker. Your practical development is accompanied by modules in both semesters on foundational academic skills – skills that will be essential as you progress to your chosen full degree.

On successful completion of the Foundation year, you'll be able to move on to study for the Fashion Photography BA Honours degree over a further three years of study.

Our Fashion Photography BA has been designed to meet the industry’s demand for well-trained and agile graduates. The course provides both deep disciplinary knowledge, and a broad range of photographic skills across various forms of analogue, digital and emerging media. Combining the success and legacy of photography as a discipline at Westminster with fashion practices, you’ll be equipped with the confidence, flexibility, and skills to develop careers within this competitive industry.

You’ll explore photography and digital imaging technologies, fashion photographic practices, critical thinking and partnerships with industry and employers. Upon graduation, as a contemporary image maker, you’ll be equipped with a very attractive profile to compete in a fast-growing creative industry.

This course examines Fashion Photography as both a historical and contemporary practice. You’ll gain insights into styling, identity and image creation, from both a theoretical and practical perspective. This will inform and develop your practical projects such as crafting compelling fashion editorials and building a professional creative campaign portfolio.

We provide career enhancement opportunities that will allow you to flourish well beyond graduation, in fashion, commercial, digital and virtual environments. You’ll gain practical experience through regular contact with industry professionals, guest talks by industry experts, and field trips to photography and fashion related spaces. You’ll also have the opportunity to take an optional year-long paid internship or placement between years 2 and 3 of this course. This experience will enable you to develop your professional skills and gain industry exposure well before you graduate.

Top reasons to study with us

• Westminster is ranked 2nd in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2025 for ‘Research Quality’ in Art and Design
• Fantastic location – you'll enjoy all the benefits of studying at our Harrow Campus – just a 20-minute tube ride from Central London, a global hub for the media and cultural industries
• Cutting-edge facilities – Our large photography and emerging media facilities provide you with everything you need to explore innovative practices
• Develop your creative production skills – work across a range of photographic and lens-based media to establish a critically engaged and self-reflective creative practice
• Contribute to fashion projects – work alongside Fashion Design and Fashion Business students, contributing photographic images for fashion campaigns
• Learn from high-profile experts in photography theory and practice, dedicated to photographic education
• Photographic pioneers – photographic education at Westminster has a unique history. Classes in photography were taught at the Polytechnic Institution, the forerunner of our University, from 1852, and the School of Photography was established in 1883

Graduates of this course are equipped to play a vital role in the fashion photography industry, having developed practical, conceptual and theoretical skills to become independent thinkers, adaptable and flexible in their skills and with a sound understanding of the industry, its conventions, histories and future opportunities.

The Fashion Photography BA is a new course for September 2024 entry. Our graduates from similar courses such as the Photography BA have found positions as photographers and photographic artists, but equally they pursue a range of careers within the broader photographic, tech and creative sectors. Many also go on to postgraduate study.

This course will prepare you for roles such as:

• Fashion photographer
• Commercial photographer
• Editorial photographer
• Picture editor
• Picture researcher
• Photographic artist
• Art director
• Post-Production
• Videographer
• Studio manager
• Digital content creator
• Media & advertising professional
• Social media specialist
• Digital marketing producer
• Photography retoucher
• Magazine editor
• Museum and gallery curator
• Teacher and lecturer