BA (Hons) Photography

Introduction

Your portfolio review will be conducted on our video interviewing platform, Shortlister. You will receive an email from us if you have been selected for interview and then you will hear from Shortlister with your log in information.

Once you have received your invitation for a review, you will be sent a log in to Shortlister. Once logged in, you will find a lobby area with a few tips on how to navigate around the platform, a practise area where you can try out answering a few questions, test sharing your screen if required and to build your confidence.

Please note that this interview will require you to share a portfolio and therefore you will need to access this via a laptop or PC.

Please note that the first question will always ask for a form of ID to be shown to the camera. This must be photo ID (a passport, driving license – full or provisional, or a college ID card).

Your Portfolio should contain about 15-20 pieces of work and is more than just presenting photographs that you like.  Show us photographs that you think are successful because they communicate something in an effective or interesting way. 

For extra information and guidance around preparing a Photography application portfolio, please see HERE.

The BA Photography Course at University of Staffordshire is a practical course, so as part of the selection process we would like to see some of the work that you have already made either during your studies in an Art and Design subject and/or you have made in your own time.

When preparing your Portfolio, think about the following areas:

A Sense of ‘You’ and your personality: What does photography mean for you? Include work that has not been produced for school/college projects, for example, your holiday photographs. It is important to demonstrate that you are able to think for yourself (some of your time will be untutored at the University, therefore evidence that you are able to work independently is useful).

Your portfolio can comprise either a PowerPoint presentation; Images of your work in either a PDF or JPEG format.

To ensure every candidate has the same opportunity to highlight their key achievements, skills, and experiences we publish our interview questions. The questions are:

1. Please show a form of ID

2. Tell us about your creative journey so far. Share your experiences in education or personal creative explorations, how you developed your knowledge and skills, also what you've learned along the way. (This is a portfolio sharing question)

3. Where do you get creative inspiration from? Discuss your sources of inspiration, such as nature, travel, design, photography or other art forms

4. Why this specific course? Show that you've researched the program and understand its unique offerings. Why do you think this course is for you?

5. What skills do you hope to develop on this course? Discuss any hopes, dream or fears

6. What do you hope to achieve in the next 5 years in relation to your education and employability? Share your vision for your academic and career future.