Photography

During their final year, the BA Photography students here at USW embark on, develop and publish distinct work that can take many forms. The subject matter for these projects is self-initiated and taken through a series of stages/stopping off points throughout the year. This includes research, development, refinement and publishing within a specific and carefully selected real world context. As a result, the projects included in this year’s Gradfest come from an extended period of experimentation and decision making. We hope you enjoy the hugely ambitious and wide-ranging work they have created and celebrate their considerable achievements with us.

It has been a privilege and a pleasure for our staff team to work with these students over the last three years and we wish them all well as they embark on their bright, diverse and promising futures, whilst we look forward to welcoming the next generation; so if you’re interested in studying with us and becoming part of our community of learners working to shape the future of photography and visual culture, please get in touch through the USW website.

BA (Hons) Documentary Photography

On the Dot. It means to arrive exactly on time and be in the right place. This exhibition is the culmination of three years of hard work by a group of students dedicated to creating complex, in-depth, and, above all, timely stories. The narratives presented here range from socially concerned photojournalism to avant-garde versions of documentary, and everything in between. 

On the Dot features the final projects of ten documentary photographers on the cusp of entering the professional world. The series included are presented in a myriad of ways, including through prints, projections, photobooks, site-specific installations, and soundscapes. Themes explored include intergenerational farms; asylum, migration and diaspora; religion and colonialism; safe spaces, family relations, and role models; identity; and a search for both real and imagined communities. Locations depicted include Wales and England, as well as France, Germany, and Kurdistan.