MA Photography and Digital Practice (Online)
World-leading creative education. Delivered to you online.
Ready to reframe what photography can be?
Adapt, challenge, and reimagine photography’s place in an age of rapid technological change.
watch our video
January Enrolment Deadline
Duration
2 years
(MA)
Commitment
21hrs per week
(approx)
Mode
Part time,
Online
Fees
£2,575
per unit
#2 in the world for Art and Design
2026
Top 10 in the UK
2027
Specialist University of the Year
2025
Why study at UAL Online?
Deepen your photographic practice within today’s digital landscape, expanding your image-making approach for a screen-first world. Engage with emerging technologies, strengthen your ethical awareness, and refine your portfolio that reflects your creative style.
Push your work beyond traditional forms of photography as you understand how photographic narratives can exist, circulate, and interact in the contemporary digital landscape.
Experiment with imaging technologies from AI, 3D imaging and XR, question the ethics of images, and create thought-provoking work that connects with audiences and communities.
Benefits of studying at UAL Online
Learn from the world’s #2 university for Art and Design
Study 100% online, part-time around your life commitments
Choose your start date and award level
Engage with forces reshaping image-making today
Get dedicated support from our Student Success Team
Pay-per-unit pricing spreads the cost of studying
Course Units
This course offers 3 award levels: PgCert (60 credits), PgDip (120 credits) and the full MA (180 credits). All students begin with the introductory unit, The Photographic in the Digital Space. If you’re completing a Master’s, you’ll also do the final two Major Projects.
The Photographic in the Digital Space (30 credits)
This is your introductory unit, where you’ll explore how images are made, shared, and understood through digital technologies. You’ll consider not only how audiences perceive images, but also how computational systems interpret them as data. Through hands-on experimentation and critical reflection, you’ll develop initial approaches to your creative direction while exploring urgent issues like climate, social, and racial justice. This is where you lay the groundwork for the practice you’ll develop across the course.
Connected Practices (30 credits)
Explore how photography shapes culture in digital platforms and networked communities. Experiment with collaborative storytelling and co-created practices as you critically examine the social, ethical, and technological conditions shaping photography and digital practice. Investigate how technology, algorithms, and circulation shape identity and community, and co-create work that fosters inclusive narratives and ethical representation.
Expanding Attentions (30 credits)
Learn how to get your ideas seen and understood in today’s attention economy. From podcasts and online publications to talks, education projects, and social media, you’ll test different ways to share your work, identify others working on related themes, and engage new audiences. Create work that reflects your creative direction and explores new ways to engage with ideas in online spaces.
Synthetic Futures (30 credits)
Explore and investigate how photographic practice is evolving through emerging technologies. You’ll experiment with technologies such as AI-generated imagery, CGI, 3D imaging, video, and extended reality (XR) to test the boundaries of what photography can be and how it can be experienced. Create new work while analysing how digital technologies shape visual experience, authorship, and ethical practice.
Major Project 1: Research (30 credits)
In Major Project 1: Research, you’ll identify a theme, pressing issue, or idea that matters to you and build a research-driven foundation for your final project. Based on your chosen topic, you’ll identify the most appropriate format for your output and carry out substantial contextual and theoretical research in the form of a digital publication, essay film, interactive website, or another innovative format. You’ll combine theory, critical enquiry, and creative exploration to develop a unique and meaningful approach appropriate to Master’s level study.
Major Project 2: Practice (30 credits)
During Major Project 2: Practice, you’ll bring your final project to life. Building on your research, you’ll create a fully resolved body of work that showcases your distinctive practice and creative voice. You’ll also plan how to share your ideas and final project effectively with the audiences you want to reach and impact.
Mati Granica 2025 graduate | London College of Communication, UAL
Course Leader
Dr Peter Ainsworth
photography and computational culture. His practice explores how emerging technologies – from LiDAR and augmented reality (AR) to extended reality (XR) and generative AI – are transforming how images are made, seen and shared, helping students address the pressing questions photography faces in a digitally connected world.
Who can apply and how much does it cost?
This course is open to applicants who meet the entry requirements below. Tuition fees are paid in instalments on a pay-per-unit basis as you progress through your chosen award – PgCert, PgDip or MA degree.
Entry requirements
You’ll need:
- An honours degree in Photography, or in a related practice-based visual discipline (e.g. Film, Fine Art, Art Direction, Computational Arts, or a similar subject) at the same level
- Or a combination of a non-related degree and several years of professional experience in the field.
- English proficiency of IELTS 6.5 (or equivalent), with a minimum of 5.5 in reading, writing, speaking and listening
- Supporting documents including a CV and transcripts
- A portfolio showcasing a video statement and 1-2 of your own projects.
MA, PgDip, PgCert
PgCert (60 credits)
Students wishing to enter onto a Postgraduate Certificate are required to complete the mandatory unit and 1 elective unit (30 credits). Studying the PgCert will take a minimum of 8 months and a maximum of 2 years 8 months.
PgDip (120 credits)
To graduate with a Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits), you must complete the mandatory unit and 3 elective units (3 x 30 credits). Studying the PgDip will take a minimum of 1 year 4 months and a maximum of 3 years 4 months.
MA (180 credits)
MA students will need to complete all 6 units of this course: the introductory unit, 3 elective units (each worth 30 credits) and 2 final Major Project units (both worth 30 credits) to achieve a Master of the Arts (MA) degree. Studying the MA will take a minimum of 2 years and a maximum of 4 years.
Each unit is delivered over 14 weeks with a short break at the end of each unit.
Fees & funding
Each unit costs £2,575*
*This fee is correct for 2026/27 entry. Tuition fees will be subject to an annual increase each academic year in line with our UAL Online Fees Policy. Each increase comes into effect in September of each year. Fees for the 2027/28 academic year will increase to £2,650 in September 2027.
Depending on your country of residence, you may also have to pay Sales Tax in addition to your tuition fees from January 2027. You can find more information on the UAL Online Sales Tax page.
Tuition fees are paid in instalments on a pay-per-unit basis as you progress through your chosen award. To secure your place on a course, you’ll be asked to pay a deposit, which is equal to and credited towards the first unit.
- Postgraduate Certificate [PgCert]: 2 units
- Postgraduate Diploma [PgDip]: 4 units
- Master’s [MA]: 6 units
UAL graduates
We offer 20% progression discounts to all UAL graduates starting a postgraduate course at the University in 2026/27. This applies to any student (home or overseas) who has already successfully completed a residential undergraduate, postgraduate or study abroad course or a UAL Online Master’s degree.
Corporate discountsIf you’re enrolling as a group from the same organisation, you may be eligible for a corporate discount on this course. This is open to any organisation looking to book multiple places, whatever your sector. To find out more or discuss a group booking, please contact UALOcorporatebookings@arts.ac.uk.
Mati Granica 2025 graduate | London College of Communication, UAL
Request more information
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