MA Photographie

To provide prospective students with opportunities to find out about the RCA experience and programmes we run a number of on-campus and online open days, as well as events in various countries around the world. You can find out about upcoming events or watch replays of past open days on the  RCA website .

Photography plays a crucial role in contemporary art. The MA Photography programme at the RCA aims to provide a critical and educational environment in which you can develop as an artist with photography at the core of your practice. We have a fluid approach to image-making. Whether still or moving, analogue or digital, the photographic image is, for us, thoughtful as well as playful: an allegorical and thoroughly visual form.

The programme understands photography as a discourse that encompasses and extends across multiple practices. This disregard for a fixed essence is photography’s strength: no aesthetic purity but a range of rhetorical forms used for the creation of fact, fiction and fantasy. Equally the boundary between the still and the moving image is fluid and porous, enabling new forms of image-making to be created and disseminated.

An informed practice of photography acknowledges the heterogeneous traditions of fine art and visual culture. It engages with practices of reading and writing about the image. On the programme, theory and practice inform each other and this dialogue characterises your committed study at the postgraduate level. The MA Photography programme is within the School of Art and Humanities and relates to studio practices and theories of contemporary art, rather than to media and communication studies.

Programme structure

Units on the Photography MA are:

• Situating Photography: Practice and Discourse
• Making Public
• Independent Research Project Part A: Independent Practice
• Independent Research Project Part B: Public Exhibition
• Independent Research Project Part C: Professional Practice
• Urgency of the Arts - School-wide unite within the School of Arts & Humanities
• AcrossRCA - interdisciplinary College-wide unit

Meet the RCA

We host a range on online and on-campus open days as well as recruitment event in cities around the world. These events can include 1-to-1 meets and portfolio advice, informal chats, presentations and sessions with staff, students and alumni. Check the  Check the RCA event webpage  for details of upcoming events.

Next on-campus open day: Saturday 20 January, 2024.

Make change at the world’s #1 university for art and design.

The Royal College of Art is the world’s leading art and design university, having been ranked for eight consecutive years as the world’s number 1 art & design university in the QS World University subject rankings (2015-2023). Our postgraduate programmes enable you to tackle complex issues, push the boundaries of your practice, build your networks, and find your voice as a professional in a changing world.

Committed to creating the next generation of artists, designers, researchers, creators, and innovators, the RCA’s world-leading academic staff will guide and challenge you to push the boundaries of your practice. As the world’s largest community of postgraduate art and design students, you will be part of a collective of inspirational creative peers opening up new opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration. The RCA offers a Graduate Diploma conversion program and Master’s, MPhil, MRes, and PhD degrees. Based on the four Schools of Architecture, Arts & Humanities, Communication, and Design, the broad range of disciplines on offer is based on a strong foundation of practice-based research and integrates STEAM subjects - Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics - providing a unique and transformative experience.

"I mainly expected this experience to help me develop my architectural skills, however, it has given me much more than just that. It has transformed the way I think as an individual as well as an architect and helped me make decisions about my future career." Ameneh Solati, MA Architecture, 2015 -17

Our Global Creative Community

Students come to the College from across the globe and bring with them a wide range of backgrounds, educational approaches, and experiences - Due to the cross-disciplinary nature of our work, and our growing range of courses, nearly 25% of students now come to the RCA with a Bachelor's degree in a subject other than art and design. Studying here means you'll be part of a network of inspiring students in a city known for creative culture, and part of the RCA’s rich history since its formation in 1837. Both the RCA and London as a whole are hubs of activity; full of places where you can socialize, explore, and make new discoveries.

Our London campus is spread throughout the heart of one of the world’s most creative cities, with sites in the historic surroundings of Kensington, the future-thinking hub of White City, and the cultural quarter in Battersea. Our facilities and technical equipment are amongst the best of their kind in the world and support students in their explorations of the creative possibilities of both new and innovative and traditional craft skills.

Scholarships and funding

The RCA offers a wide range of scholarships and bursary schemes, open to UK and International students, and across our full range of courses. Visit our website for more information about our schemes and how to apply for them. There are also Government funded options for both our Master's degrees and our doctoral research Programmes (for UK students).

Where will the RCA take you?

Whatever your creative career aspirations, the RCA can help you realize them. A qualification from the world’s number-one ranked university for Art and design has proven invaluable to the careers and practice of thousands of graduates . You too could be part of our international network of creative individuals who have shaped, and continue to shape, the world surrounding us, and address some of the biggest global challenges of our time.