24 Apr 2013

Applications Invited: MFA in Contemporary Photographic Practice

The MFA in Contemporary Photographic Practice (MFA CPP) is a unique course offered by the University of South Wales, Caerleon Campus in collaboration with Fondazione Studio Marangoni (FSM) in Florence.

This masters course in photography will be delivered in English and is intended for those students who wish to develop a critical understanding of their individual work within the broader debates of art, social documentary and wider culture. The programme will be delivered by internationally renowned practitioners, critics, theorists, and curators in both Newport and Florence with an emphasis on intensive workshops, seminars and tutorials, interspersed with periods of self directed study, reflection and consolidation. During this photography course students will develop technical and critical skills, with a strong emphasis on diversity of practice and the dynamics of the group. There will be an interim exhibition in Florence and a final exhibition in Wales.

We have excellent facilities for both analogue and digital output and are a leading presence in the development of an international research culture across Europe, with a long history of photographic education in Newport, where we celebrated 100 years of photography in 2012

FSM is located in the heart of the city of Florence and enjoys a dynamic teaching and workshop reputation, alongside its public gallery exhibition programme.

This contemporary photographic masters programme has been developed with partner institution Fondazione Studio Marangoni in Italy in order to provide an exciting and supportive environment for you to develop a collection of work, which challenges and explores the many uses and contexts of photography in the wider world today. Our students are drawn from a wide range of backgrounds across the UK, Europe, USA, Asia and South America, and the wide range of staff expertise, as well as a full programme of renowned visiting speakers, makes this a unique learning experience.

This full-time course has been designed around intense blocks of study in each location, leading towards public exhibitions, international seminars and a close engagement with both your peer group and leading staff at both institutions.


Semester 1 centres on defining practice and positions within photography and will include workshops, lectures and seminars alongside site-specific projects.

Semester 2 emphasises the development of personal practice through extended workshops culminating in a group interim exhibition in Florence. The exhibition provides a critical platform to engage with the production of work with curators and the public.

Semester 3 provides an intense engagement with professional pathways open to the contemporary practitioner, via symposia and attendance at international events in the field. Students consolidate their final work towards exhibition and viva voce presentation in Wales.