Module manager: Mick Schofield
Email: M.P.Schofield@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2026/27
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module encourages students to develop a critically reflective approach to contemporary image production, and engage in current, cutting edge debates concerning issues such as new technologies, realism, artificial intelligence and the changing politics of representation. The module combines the formal critical study of photographic practice with digital image production, and students will produce a series of works which reflect and critique current photography, developing their own self-reflexive approaches, including how to contextualise and present work for public audiences. Students’ critical engagement with contemporary photography will be evidenced through academic writing and project conceptualisation, while producing and editing a series of images which explore a key area of contemporary debate. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
This module aims to frame students’ creative practice and professional development in relation to key current debates in the field of contemporary photography, whilst fostering a critically reflective approach to the production and consumption of photographic images. The module will consist of a series of lectures covering key themes and debates, alongside workshops that extend digital image-production skills and guide students through planning a photography exhibition
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1. Evaluate current debates in contemporary photography and relate these to changing practices
2. Produce and edit photographic images to an advanced standard
3. Discuss, contextualise and situate practice within broader photographic traditions, and aesthetic and ethical discourses
4. Create and present critically-informed photographic work for public audiences
Skills outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
5. Communicate concepts and debates to a variety of different audiences, using images and writing to create multimodal texts
6. Employ industry standard media production tools to create portfolio work as part of professional development
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practicals | 11 | 2 | 22 |
| Lecture | 11 | 2 | 22 |
| Private study hours | 156 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 44 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Throughout the course of this module students will be engaged in guided reading and
practice- based exercises leading to two summative pieces of work. The period of private study will be a combination of critical and historical reading and the development of digital photographic practice towards the submission of their portfolio images.
Students will be monitored via the formative assessment process (written research plan), and during workshop sessions as they develop their practical work.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Exhibition catalogue | 60 |
| Coursework | Exhibition proposal | 40 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Resit is to repeat the assessment
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 30/04/2026
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