MA Socially Engaged Photography

INTRODUCTION

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 University of Salford and Open Eye Gallery. You will work with active practitioners 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, the latter including a free year-long membership and digital profile awarded by partner Axisweb.

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

You will:

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

Assessment

You will be assessed throughout the course on:

• Body of work and contextual research: e.g action research/publication/exhibition etc.
• Reflective journals: log or sketch-book/statement/critical writing/seminar or other presentation

All submissions are comprised of a body of practice plus a contextual and critical research portfolio, and reflective logs/journals and case studies. As the ‘thesis’ is embedded in the action research there is no requirement for a separate, written dissertation - although you may elect to do so, if appropriate, by negotiation with final award Course Team.

CAREER LINKS

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 daylong 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.