GCSE Photography in Years 10 & 11
Course Leader: Mrs Raleigh
Contact Email: fraleigh@tgschool.net
Examination Board: AQA
Assessment: 60% coursework, 40% examination
Why should I study this subject at Key Stage 4?
Careers in the creative Industry are one of the biggest growing sectors in the Uk. As we live in a digital age it is important to be able to record and manipulate images of the world around us. Studying photography and learning to experiment with darkroom technique and digital processes gives you an excellent foundation to study a range of creative subjects at key stage 5
What does the course involve?
GCSE Photography is an extremely broad course in which students are exposed to a wide variety of techniques, processes and contextual references as they develop their skills and understanding of the context of modern day Photography. During Year 10, students study the history of Photography and development of processes, experiment with pinhole Photography, Darkroom techniques, photomontage and Macro photography. Students study different approaches to composition and the impact of Photography on public perception. In Year 11, students develop a personalised project which challenges their ability to create independent experiments, before moving on to the final, externally set exam project. When presenting your work, you will employ both practical, sketchbook based techniques and digital/online portfolios, thereby demonstrating versatility in your approach.
Skills developed
Within a wide range of activities your photographic skills (in the use of light, viewpoints, composition, depth-of-field and darkroom techniques) will be developed alongside essential project work skills. You will develop both digital image gathering and editing, and manual chemical skills and experiment with a broad range of processes. You will learn to progressively develop experiments, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of your work as you progress: you will practice the skills of analysis and evaluation, and use them to refine your emerging practice. The skills you develop during this course will be ideally suited to further study at Key Stage 5, or a further career in lens and light based careers.
Studying Photography at Sixth Form
Students can study Photography at A Level here at Thomas Gainsborough School.
