The Photography Department offers specialised instruction in the practice of photography as a fine art medium for individual creative expression. Its programmes aim to guide each student towards the development of an art practice characterised by sound creative, analytical and technical skills and underpinned by critical and conceptual inquiry.

Students explore the full scope of photographic art methodologies, from traditional fine-print processes to digital imaging, within a project-based studio framework. They examine photography’s various historic and cultural contexts and its relationship to other fine art media, gaining knowledge and understanding of theories of photographic practice. Developments in contemporary Australian and international photographic art practice form an ongoing framework for all discussion and analysis.

Courses are delivered through slide lectures, demonstrations and workshops, supervised and independent studio practice, individual tutorials, group critiques, written assignments and excursions. Students undertake structured yet flexible projects in a supportive learning environment. With the aim of developing technical skills, creative confidence and visual awareness, these projects challenge students to explore the full language of the medium through diverse experimentation and investigation. One-to-one tutorials monitor students' progress closely and help academic staff to identify and accommodate individual differences in learning. Peer reviews encourage students to develop critical and analytical skills. Regular gallery visits and talks provide a contemporary professional context for students as their individual studio practices develop, and help to foster the speculative dimension vital to those practices.

Academic staff guide students through the articulation of their evolving theoretical and aesthetic concerns. Following staff advice, students conceive, develop and realise bodies of work, becoming increasingly self-directed as they progress. The department accepts the production of installation and time-based artworks as well as prints. Full-time programmes culminate in the public exhibition by each student of a body of work.

Facilities include:

• black and white processing and printing

• C41 colour printing

• a lighting studio equipped with extensive flash and tungsten lighting

• a wide range of cameras of all formats

• digital imaging facilities

• access to fully equipped lecture rooms