Socially Engaged Photography

University of Salford

United Kingdom, Salford

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945

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Home/United Kingdom/Salford /University of Salford/Socially Engaged Photography

University of Salford

United Kingdom , Salford

Key Facts

Program Level

Master by Course Work

Study Type

Full Time

Delivery

On Campus

Campuses

Main Site

Program Language

English

Start & Deadlines

Next Intake DeadlinesSeptember-2026

Apply to this program

Go to the official application for the university

Duration 1 year(s)

Tuition Fee

GBP 17,520 / years

Next Intake September-2026

Socially Engaged Photography

About

Introduction

In a nutshell

Photography has become the most pervasive medium through which individuals share their lives on a daily basis. This new programme explores the power of photography when working with real communities to co-author meaningful culture.

This course will be delivered through a partnership between the University of Salford and Open Eye Gallery. You will work with active practitioners, community groups and academics to rethink the role of photography in society today, to develop your creative practice and your professional profile.

The course will give students support in producing creative projects with both arts and non-arts commissioners in mind, exploring how to create socially engaged art that is meaningful to both audiences and participants. Students will develop and deliver live projects with partners working in health, youth, community and justice, all embedded within a critically engaged and ethical framework.

We will provide professional practice surgeries, from understanding legal, ethical and safeguarding frameworks, to developing your professional profile and will have some joint teaching sessions with the Socially Engaged Practice students.

You will have opportunities to engage directly with national debates and Open Eye Gallery’s national network for socially engaged photographic practice.

This course is part of our suite of MA Art and Design programmes, which means you also get the opportunity to work collaboratively on a few modules with students from Socially Engaged Art, Contemporary Fine Art, Visual Communications, and Creative Technology. We welcome and support you to work in a cross-disciplinary with your peers, echoing the way professionals work within the creative industries today.

Want to know more about our Socially Engaged Arts and Photography programmes? Come along to an Open Day or contact our programme leader, Liz Wewiora on [email protected]

International applicants: Please check the international intakes page for the latest information and application dates.

You will:

Develop career-enhancing theoretical and practical knowledge and skills.
Undertake a profile-raising practice-based research residency and showcase with Open Eye Gallery
Validate your artistic practice within a bespoke national network

International

students accepted

Group Therapy Series - Lasma Poisa and Snappy Valley Collective

Self-portrait task, part of photography collective @Snappy_Valley_Tod lockdown project 2020, graduate Lasma Poisa - DUPLICATE

Group photo walk with tutor Liz Wewiora and Liverpool Digital Ambassadors group, part of 'Ferry Folk' residency, 2018.

Winners at the Create Student Awards 2022

You’ll study at our New Adelphi building and join an Art and Design community where you’ll be supported and mentored.

This is for you if...

You’ve already demonstrated a commitment to pursuing a professional career as a photographer.

You’d like to learn how to apply your craft to social and community projects, and want to learn through live briefs and industry placements.

You’re passionate about community and social issues and want to use your talents to help tell peoples' stories.

Requirements

Entry Requirements

Requirements

What you need to know

To gain a place on this MA Socially Engaged Photography course, youâll have to submit a personal statement and meet our entry requirements when you apply.

Within your Socially Engaged Photography personal statement (up to 500 words), weâll want to understand:

What motivates you and what current experiences do you have in terms of art and design and community/socially engaged arts/photography practice?
How have you been involved and what did you do?
Do you have any knowledge in the arts sector; are there any projects that inspire you?
What are your future goals; is it to work in the arts sector, for example?
Why is the University of Salford and this postgraduate degree the right choice for your future goals?

For some applicants, youâll be asked to provide us with a portfolio of work and potentially take part in an informal group seminar discussion or interviewâ either live or on camera â to demonstrate your skills. The portfolio will be documentation of any relevant visual materials/projects completed within the last 10 years, including community or project partner testimonies.

Once youâve made your application to study with us, weâll contact you and let you know the next steps.

Standard entry requirements

To join this MA you should have a second class honours degree, 2:2 or above.

International students

If you are an international student and not from a majority English speaking country, you will need IELTS 6.0 with no element below 5.5. We accept qualifications from all around the world. Find your country to see a full list of entry requirements.

We also accept a range of other English language qualifications. If you do not have the English language requirements, you could take our Pre-Sessional English course.

Alternative entry requirements

Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL)

We welcome applications from students who may not have formal/traditional entry criteria but who have relevant experience or the ability to pursue the course successfully.

The Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) process could help you to make your work and life experience count. The APL process can be used for entry onto courses or to give you exemptions from parts of your course.

Two forms of APL may be used for entry: the Accreditation of Prior Certificated Learning (APCL) or the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL).

English Program Requirements

Equivalent qualifications

English language requirements are shown on individual course pages. Generally, this is shown as an IELTS grade, however we accept a range of equivalent qualifications.

As a general guide:

For undergraduate courses we require IELTS 6.0 (with a minimum 5.5 in each component) or equivalent

For postgraduate courses, we require IELTS 6.0 (with a minimum 5.5 in each component) or equivalent

For the International Foundation Year, we require IELTS 4.5 (with a minimum 4.0 in each component) in UKVI IELTS for UKVI (Academic)

The approved equivalent qualifications list includes the following:

Secure English Language Tests (SELTs)

University of Salford English language courses

Regional-based qualifications

Majority English Speaking Countries as deemed by UKVI

Medium of English Institutions

Applicants who require a Student Route visa to study in the UK may require evidence of a Secure English Language test rather than an examination or qualification due to visa requirements, as deemed by the UK Government Home Office, Visa and Immigration (UKVI).

Career

Employment and stats

What about after uni?

Employment

This Master’s community photography course is built around preparing you for a career in the arts, applying your expertise in socially engaged photography and visual representation to real life projects.

After graduating, you may choose to use the knowledge and the skills you’ve gained during your studies in settings such as prisons, youth centres, hospitals and schools. There will be opportunities within the course to look at specific routes to establishing yourself as a professional practitioner in these areas.

You may also choose to become a freelancer. In doing this, you’ll have the opportunity to work in a variety of formal and informal project settings, including workshops and residencies.

There are also several resources that will be available to you when taking the next steps in your career. For example, we coordinate a range of enterprise projects and initiatives that can benefit graduating students in order to assist their career opportunities or routes into self-employment. As well as this, you may join Open Eye Gallery’s Associates programme, meeting with fellow practitioners to share learning, best practice and opportunities for collaboration.

Finally, you may choose to continue your practice-based research through a MPhil/PhD course at the University of Salford. Graduates can become associate members of the School of Arts and Media Research Centre.

Further study

Graduates showing strong academic and research skills can pursue a further academic research path through our doctoral (PhD) programmes on a full-time or part-time basis subject to a satisfactory proposal.

A taste of what you could become

A freelance photographer

A creative producer

A creative educator

A lecturer

A curator

Career Links

Our MA Art and Design programmes have great working relationships key cultural organisations within the North-west.

This course is delivered in conjunction with Open Eye Gallery.

Since 2016, Open Eye Gallery has been leading Culture Shifts, a programme of socially engaged photography projects spanning Liverpool City Region. It began with eleven photographers working with seven communities across the region, including a support network for young people identifying as LGBTQ+ and women with protected characteristics. So far, it has resulted in eight exhibitions (with an audience of over 40,000), hundreds of workshops and a new digital platform for sharing sequences of images, PhotoStories. Open Eye Gallery also programmed two day-long industry events: a national gathering of leading socially engaged photography practitioners and a public symposium on how public art organisations can foster useful collaborations with other civic institutions including healthcare commissioners, police and community organisers.