Fashion Photography at UCA

Behind every successful fashion shoot is a talented photographer. With the skills you gain on our MA Fashion Photography degree course at UCA Epsom, you can make that role your own.

On our course, you’ll build on your existing fashion and photography knowledge to identify, develop and manage a Masters project.

We will provide you with the tools to help you reach your goals - from state-of-the-art photography facilities and off-campus shoots and exhibition visits to specialised lectures, seminars, tutorials and workshops.

Your studies will be supported by internationally renowned staff in a department that encourages experimentation. You'll establish yourself as a well-rounded professional who can formulate ideas in a sophisticated framework, while also communicating to others both visually and verbally.

We place a strong emphasis on publication, enabling you to find creative ways to disseminate your work beyond the academic context, in the public arena. With the skills and confidence you gain, you'll be equipped to succeed in a career of your choice - whether that's in editorial fashion, curation, editing, fine art or freelance work.

 

Course entry options

Select from the following options to find out more about the different study options available for this course:

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Fashion Photography
MA

A one-year course of advanced study for furthering your research skills and specialising within your discipline.

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Campus
UCA Epsom
Start date(s)
September 2025
Duration
1 year full-time
Entry requirements

Honours degree (or equivalent qualification) in the subject/related discipline
and/or
Relevant work experience

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Fashion Photography
MA with Integrated Pre-Masters

This course includes a year-long preparatory course of study to ready you for your Masters course, developing your specialist knowledge, research skills and confidence in working alone.

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Campus
UCA Epsom
Start date(s)
September 2025
Duration
2 years full-time
Entry requirements

A recognised bachelor degree or 3 year diploma with a strong portfolio in a relevant subject

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Fashion Photography

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Campus
Start date(s)
Duration
Entry requirements
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Fashion Photography

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Campus
Start date(s)
Duration
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Fashion Photography

Apply now Submit an enquiry
Campus
Start date(s)
Duration
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Fashion Photography

Apply now Submit an enquiry
Campus
Start date(s)
Duration
Entry requirements
Michael Laing, MA Fashion Photography Naisargi Shah, MA Fashion Photography Rakesh Patel, MA Fashion Photography Vipul Waghmare, MA Fashion Photography Jie Ni, MA Fashion Photography, UCA Rochester Vipul Waghmare, MA Fashion Photography Keerthana Rajeeva Lochana, MA Fashion Photography, UCA Rocheter Ruowen Wu, MA Fashion Photography, UCA Rochester Xingwei Li, MA Fashion Photography, UCA Rochester Suppaphol Prachumpon, MA Fashion Photography, UCA Rochester Al Sarcoli, MA Fashion Photography, UCA Rochester Aakruti Sarangdhar, MA Fashion Photography, UCA Rochester

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Becoming Visible
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Jodie’s hijab journey captivates Vogue editors
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Roots: A personal exploration of race
What you'll study

What you'll
study

The content of the course may be subject to change. Curriculum content is provided as a guide.

On this course you’ll prepare for postgraduate study with a mix of online and face-to-face learning that will give you the study skills required to complete a Masters course.

Launch
Launch week is a cross-school event bringing together postgraduate students across all disciplines within the School of Fashion and Textiles to get to know each other and form an international, cross-functional, dynamic postgraduate community.

Exploring Creative Practice
You will experiment with a range of approaches to making and constructing work, beginning to define the processes you want to investigate. The work you produce in this unit should comprise of tests and experiments (failure and reflection is encouraged) to be presented at the end of the unit in a visual summary communicating what you have learned, about both yourself as a creative and your primary medium(s).

Critical thinking for Creative Practice
Within this unit you will be introduced to historical and contemporary debates that underpin your creative practice. You will be given the opportunity to expand your historical and contextual knowledge, examine ethical frameworks, and be introduced to social and cultural approaches to fashion and textiles.

Opportunity Week
Opportunity Week is cross-school event bringing together all postgraduate students across all disciplines within fashion and textiles to formally present their work in progress and major project proposal to their postgraduate community. Students will be encouraged to give formative feedback and identify shared interest and potential collaboration opportunities.

Refining Creative Practice
You’ll reflect further upon work made in Exploring Creative Practice to highlight a route forward. It will culminate in an interim exhibition of your work, working with fellow students to plan, fund, curate and promote it at specified venues.

Collaborative Professional Practice
Within this unit you will be introduced to markets, industry connections, contexts and future facing professional development within your discipline, in order to complete a two-stage collaborative professional project. This can be either within your course remit or working with students from the Business School for the Creative Industries for a creative start-up.

Major Project
The culmination of your studies, your major project is the chance to showcase your research and creative exploratory practice. This will require you to produce a significant body of work, which encapsulates the creative ideas, research methodologies, new insights, technical expertise and professional contexts.

Course specifications

Please note, syllabus content indicated is provided as a guide. The content of the course may be subject to change in line with our Student Terms and Conditions for example, as required by external professional bodies or to improve the quality of the course.

Fees & funding

Fees & financial support

Tuition fees

  • 2025/26: £10,500

Tuition fees

Tuition fees

  • 2025/26 (MA): £18,000
  • 2025/26 (Integrated International Pre-Masters course - Sept & Jan): £17,500
  • 2025/26 (Integrated International Pre-Masters course - May): £8,750

Please note: the fees listed here are correct for the stated academic year only. For more detailed information about our course fees please see our fees and finance pages. 

UCA scholarships and fee discounts

At UCA we have a number of scholarships and fee discounts available to assist you with the cost of your studies.

Current UCA students and alumni may be eligible for a tuition fee discount.

Financial support

There are lots of ways you can access additional financial support to help you fund your studies - both from UCA and from external sources. Discover what support you might qualify for please see our financial support information.

Additional course costs

In addition to the tuition fees there may be other costs for your course. The things that you are likely to need to budget for to get the most out of a creative arts education will include books, printing costs, occasional or optional study trips and/or project materials.

These costs will vary according to the nature of your project work and the individual choices that you make. Please see the Additional Course Costs section of the Course Information Document for more details of the costs you may incur.

Explore our Gradshow

Each year, we’re privileged to be able to share our graduates’ incredible work with the world. And now’s your chance to take a look.

Visit the online showcase

Facilities

Fashion Photography facilities include fully-equipped, spacious photographic studios - large photographic studios and lighting; perfect for still-life, fashion, tableau and other constructed photography. Digital imaging centre and a digital suite of Mac Pros and colour calibrated monitors and up-to-date software.

View 360 virtual tour
Photography Studios, UCA Epsom

Photography studios, UCA Epsom

Photography Studio, UCA Epsom

Photography studios, UCA Epsom

Student in UCA Epsom library

Library, UCA Epsom

Photography students in UCA Epsom studio

Photography studios, UCA Epsom

Career opportunities

Our MA Photography courses enjoy extensive links with a number of photographic, media and fine art professionals, curators, publishers, specialist printers and book designers. These connections enrich your experience through visiting lecturer and seminar programmes.

In the last three years, speakers on the course have included photographers and other creative practitioners such as:

  • Ori Gersht
  • Esther Teichmann
  • Margaret Salmon
  • Sarah Jones
  • Matthew Stone
  • Criodhna Costello
  • Chris Coekin
  • Carey Young
  • Lisa Castagner
  • Rod Dickinson
  • Jo Longhurst
  • Jason Evans
  • Joseph Walsh
  • Eva Bensasson

Additionally, creative professionals and industry links for our course include:

  • Benedict Burbridge, editor of Photoworks
  • Stuart Smith, book designer at Smith-Design
  • Sarah James, writer at Art Monthly and Frieze
  • Lucy Soutter, writer at Source
  • Clare Grafik, curator of The Photographer's Gallery
  • Jennifer Thatcher, Folkestone Triennial
  • Jean Wainwright, writer at Art Newspaper
  • Terry King, specialist printer
  • Emily Pethick, directs The Showroom
  • Robert Shore, editor of Elephant Magazine
  • Edward Dorrian, organiser of Five Years
  • Joyce Cronin, manages the Cubitt Gallery 

Our postgraduate degree prepares you for your career through professional practice units, talks by visiting artists and portfolio reviews with figures from across the photographic industry. Career opportunities include:

  • Freelance photography
  • Fine art
  • Fashion
  • Advertising and editorial
  • Post production/digital imaging
  • Picture editing and research
  • Curating
  • Image, arts and community arts management
  • Gallery administration.

Graduates of MA Photography have gone on to win the Jerwood Photography prize; to exhibit their work in The Photographers' Gallery, Photofusion, ArtSway and the Geffyre Museum as well as publishing their outputs in different venues ranging from The Sunday Times Magazine to monographs with Dewi Lewis Publishing.

Our course provides an excellent platform for you to connect with your subject, or to further your teaching career at an advanced level.

It also helps prepare you for further study or research to specialise even further.

We also encourage you to apply to national and international competitions and residencies. Recent graduates have met with success at the PhotoforumPasquArt in Switzerland and Emergent Lleida, Spain. Alumni have also gone on to study for PhDs and to teach in many different national and international institutions at a range of levels.

Our Staff

Michelle Marshall

Michelle Marshall

Programme Director of Fashion Image
Sarah Lloyd Profile Picture

Sarah Lloyd

Lecturer Fashion Theory

Entry & portfolio requirements

For this course we will need to see your portfolio for review. You can either submit a digital portfolio or request an in-person portfolio review with the course team. Further information will be provided once you have applied. View portfolio advice

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