From September 2012, Brampton’s extremely successful Art Department will be offering Photography for the first time.
Students will be able to take Photography A level on its own or as an option alongside Fine Art, Textiles and others within Art A level. Photography offers the chance for students to learn how to express ideas and experiences to a very high technical level, to learn how to work independently on challenging projects and to feel a real sense of achievement by producing images that others can admire and be inspired by. It also equips students with highly marketable skills for our media-saturated world.
“Like other Art A level options, photography demands a lot of research, planning and reflection, specialised technical knowledge and skill, and a great deal of practice”, says Mike Wheeldon, VP for Arts and Humanities, “but the rewards are huge, not just in terms of a top grade at the end of the course, but for life: self-confidence, technical and creative ability, attention to detail, perhaps most of all the lesson of working hard to achieve something really worthwhile – you can get all this from Photography at A level”. Students will explore both film-based photography, learning about film types and speeds, dark-room techniques and image manipulation, and the use of hardware and software in digital photography. There is even a chance to work with the moving image in the Photography A level to produce one’s own film narrative or animation. Students can combine Photography with any other set of A levels, including Art itself, or may wish to experiment with it as an AS level before deciding on their A2 choices.
After what will be six years with the college, our Principal, John Wilson, will be leaving us at the end of the current academic year to take up a new role at a school in Central London. We wish John well and thank him for his exceptional service and contribution to the college and his commitment to our students.