BA(Hon) in Photography from the OCA

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Does anyone out there in TP Land have experience of, or know anything at all about, the Open College of Arts (OCA) and their photography courses. I've searched the foruums and only a few old threads / casual references are thrown up.

OCA – Click on Photography, Film & Digital Media

They have just announced an expansion of their existing distance learning courses in photography to the BA(Hon) level. I believe (though yet to confirm) that they are affiliated to the Open University (OU). They seem to be fully accredited to offer degree level qualifications and the courses follow the usual ‘credits’ system to gain various levels of qualification. The degree course is split into 3 levels with 120 credits needed from each level

I’ve often thought of doing a ‘proper’ qualification in photography but the OU has only offered this (up to now) as part of an Arts degree where photography is a module. The alternatives to the OU is a C&G etc but I’ve found these to be (a) fairly ‘technical’ in nature and (b) reliant (in part) on traditional film/darkroom photography. I have no desire to return to film/darkroom study and on the technical side I and fairly knowledgeable and competent having spent 30+ years self-learning.

I’m much more interested in developing the ‘artistic’ (for want of a better term) side of my photography. A course of study based around subjects such as Colour, Form, Design, Composition, Interpretation etc is much more attractive (and challenging) for me ….. and this degree course from the OCA seems to be exactly the thing.

To place this in context this would be for personal development and in no way connected with getting a job.

Any views greatly received :)

Cheers medears, Dave B.
 
Hi Dave,

Well you happen to catch me about 1/2 way into working for my degree from OCA. I highly recommend it.

The course comes in three levels - roughly equivalent to the stuff you do in first, second and third year degree. I did the Art of Photography first - and that really is an excellent course. It gives a quick grounding in technical stuff (aperture, shutter speed...) but is mainly about the creative stuff like compostion, colour, visual balance and trying new things. I'd really recommend that as the first course to try and see what you think.

Also done Digital Arts level 1 (messing about with a scanner and a bit pf photoshop), and Landscape level 2 that I will convert down to level 1. I'm in the middle of progressing with digital photography and social documentary (both level 2) - so can tell you detail and thoughts about any of these courses.

They have changed with university they are affiliated with - it used to be University of Glamorgan and is now I think University of Buckinghamshire - but it doesn't really matter as the courses stay the same.

The only possible variable is what your tutor is like. Some give fairly useful feedback and are good all round. Others are amazingly useful and considered in their advice. I've not had a bad tutor yet (out of four). But I've also opted to hang onto one who I thought was good and get him to tutor my other courses - I'm hoping he'll still be there to go through to my degree with!

I started for the same reason as you - personal development - and it certainly works. The discipline of assignments and honest feedback on how to improve has really lifted my photography. I've found that the assignments and exercises that I've found really tough has seemed really difficult, but when I've finally wrestled with them I've produced some of my best photos - which gives a wonderful sense of acheivement.

I'm in danger of wibbling for far too long if I keep going - any other things you were curious about?

Oh you can get the course, decide it's not for you and send it back and just lose postage costs. Or you can keep the material but not use the tutor or get the qualification for just £50, but you have to decide in first 7 days I think. But it does mean you can have a better look at the material before the money is definitely sunk.

Anything else you'd like to know about it?

Sue
 
Hi Puz ... is that negative or positive thoughts? …. or thoughts of incredulity that anyone would pay £4 for a Freeman course etc ;) In fact the £4k is over the life of the study period (3-7 years depending on your rate of study) for the BA(Hon) degree in exactly the same way you would pay the OU for a degree in Biology or whatever.

Hi Sue, TVM for you very full explanation, really appreciated. I’ve just printed off all the course details and I’m about to go through it. I’ll will come back to you for info if I may once I’ve digested it.

My concern is (now don’t get me wrong here, I’m not trying to stake a claim as a great photographer or anything, but) I am fairly long in the tooth photography wise and I don’t need tuition on the technical side of things so an assignment on, say, the effective use of motion blur would be paying for something I already know about ….. if you see what I mean.

I would be interested in exploring the more abstract side of things like line & shape, texture & colour etc. I’d also like to stretch myself photography-wise and I’d really enjoy the ‘people & places’ subject for example. And the idea of working towards the BA appeals to me on a private level.

It’s how much of the course would be ‘old hat’ for me and how much would be a revealing new challenge worth paying for.

Off to do a bit of reading now.

Cheers, Dave B :)
 
Hi Puz ... is that negative or positive thoughts? …. or thoughts of incredulity that anyone would pay £4K for a Freeman course etc ;) In fact the £4k is over the life of the study period (3-7 years depending on your rate of study) for the BA(Hon) degree in exactly the same way you would pay the OU for a degree in Biology or whatever.

Hi Sue, TVM for you very full explanation, really appreciated. I’ve just printed off all the course details and I’m about to go through it. I’ll will come back to you for info if I may once I’ve digested it.

My concern is (now don’t get me wrong here, I’m not trying to stake a claim as a great photographer or anything, but) I am fairly long in the tooth photography wise and I don’t need tuition on the technical side of things so an assignment on, say, the effective use of motion blur would be paying for something I already know about ….. if you see what I mean.

I would be interested in exploring the more abstract side of things like line & shape, texture & colour etc. I’d also like to stretch myself photography-wise and I’d really enjoy the ‘people & places’ subject for example. And the idea of working towards the BA appeals to me on a private level.

It’s how much of the course would be ‘old hat’ for me and how much would be a revealing new challenge worth paying for.

Off to do a bit of reading now.

Cheers, Dave B :)
 
I'm in the same situation as you, Dave. I have a feeling that a lot of the stuff would be things that I already know - probably stuff I originally learned from a Michael Freeman book back in the year dot!

But the idea of working towards a degree in photography does appeal, and the documentation I have implies that successful completion of the course also results in the award of an ARPS, which would be cool.

My feeling is that on a purely financial basis, it's probably not worth it. You (I) could buy a few good books, set myself a few projects and do it alone. It would be nice to work with a tutor, but once you've learned the techniques, everything else is subjective, and who is to say the tutor's opinion is more valid than yours? Posting images to critique forums would give a wider, and imo, equally valid, range of feedback.

Having said all of that, I'm still tempted. Signing up for a course (and handing over the cash) does introduce an element of discipline that can be hard to maintain when working alone.

There's mention in the handout I have of being able to skip some of the earlier modules if you can supply a portfolio of decent images; that might be something worth looking into.

Sue, thanks for your very useful post. Could you give an estimate of how much time you spend per week, per module?

Cheers,
Keith
 
Out Of Focus said:
Hi Sue, TVM for you very full explanation, really appreciated. I’ve just printed off all the course details and I’m about to go through it. I’ll will come back to you for info if I may once I’ve digested it.

My concern is (now don’t get me wrong here, I’m not trying to stake a claim as a great photographer or anything, but) I am fairly long in the tooth photography wise and I don’t need tuition on the technical side of things so an assignment on, say, the effective use of motion blur would be paying for something I already know about ….. if you see what I mean.

I would be interested in exploring the more abstract side of things like line & shape, texture & colour etc. I’d also like to stretch myself photography-wise and I’d really enjoy the ‘people & places’ subject for example. And the idea of working towards the BA appeals to me on a private level.

It’s how much of the course would be ‘old hat’ for me and how much would be a revealing new challenge worth paying for.

Off to do a bit of reading now.

Cheers, Dave B :)
Click to expand...

Hi Dave B

Very much understand your concerns. Being specific, the first exercises of the Art of Photography you'll whizz through as its the basics of aperture, shutter speed etc- that's the first 5 exercises of 65.

By exercise 16 its already talking about creative stuff like defining a point, and taking a photograph dominated by one point. Sounds easy, but dull. I'd only ever really photographed animals - and it just wasn't working out for me.

I was stuck on this for weeks taking photos like this:

smokealarm431x300.jpg


Seriously, have a think right now about good photos dominated by only one thing.
































Its tricky. I kept searching for inspiration, and eventually came across this picture of James Dean.

James_Dean_Times_Square_L.jpg


And the penny dropped. And suddenly I broke out of my normal pictures (and boring pictures) to take shots like this:

man_in_arches.jpg


Similarly a few exercises along requires a picture dominated by horizontals and verticals, which for me made me take this in what I had thought was a nasty modern concrete monstrosity:

horizontal_and_vertical.jpg


They're not great photos by any means - but compared to my snapshots of beasties in zoos they were a revelation to me. I'd never worked in black and white, and hated modern architecture. The course didn't say "go photograph buildings" - I was just stuck on some points on composition, and the course made me push through that.

My point is that the course aims to inspire, and so fits really well regardless of what expertise you have already and can fit either what you enjoy photographing, or send you in whole new directions. It helped me to do new things, and look at new photos to get ideas. I could redo this course tomorrow and use totally different subjects and get a whole bunch more out of it.

I'm sure that wouldn't be that interesting to many people. But I'm very thankful that the OCA courses made me a more rounded photographer than just wildlife and nature, as well as appreciate many other photographer's work.

My goodness I'm long winded today. Sorry if that doesn't help.

Sue
 
keith.l said:
I'm in the same situation as you, Dave. I have a feeling that a lot of the stuff would be things that I already know - probably stuff I originally learned from a Michael Freeman book back in the year dot.

But the idea of working towards a degree in photography does appeal, and the documentation I have implies that successful completion of the course also results in the award of an ARPS, which would be cool.

My feeling is that on a purely financial basis, it's probably not worth it. You (I) could buy a few good books, set myself a few projects and do it alone.
Click to expand...

Totally true - but I know I've bought the books, thought of working through them, and skipped the bits that looked tricky - which are the bits of the course I've benefited most from (see the very long and quite boring post above).


keith.l said:
Having said all of that, I'm still tempted. Signing up for a course (and handing over the cash) does introduce an element of discipline that can be hard to maintain when working alone.
Click to expand...

Indeed.


keith.l said:
Sue, thanks for your very useful post. Could you give an estimate of how much time you spend per week, per module?
Click to expand...

Varies as fit it around other stuff and being ill. And how stuck I get. At the minute I'm sailing through the digital photography one (add new sky to a picture - easy peasy) and completely stuck on social documentary - photographing emotions and human relationships... can't even think of any photos I like of such things. So that one will take me weeks of looking around at books and the internet to figure out what to do.

Generally the course guide reckons 3-12 hours per exercise, and 40-60 exercises per course, so 400-600 hours total work on a course - which I'd usually do over 6-18 months, often running two courses at the same time so if I'm stuck on one course I'll do the other for a while.
 
Thanks very much, Sue. (And your posts were not at all boring :) They are extremely useful as are you example pics. I think the stairway one is a good example of the kind of thing that you see when you are specifically looking for shots, and that you might otherwise miss. That's another aspect of this type of course that I feel can make them worthwhile)
 
Thanks for the insight Sue. I've been wanting to do a course for ages but not quite finding one that suited what I wanted to do. This sounds like the kind of course I'd enjoy and that would challenge me in the right ways :)
 
So, say for example if you did the Level 1 package (whichever one you choose), and you complete it with flying colours, so to speak, do you get a degree from that, or is that a part of what could be a degree should you do level's 2 and 3 at a later date?
 
keith.l said:
Thanks very much, Sue. (And your posts were not at all boring :) They are extremely useful as are you example pics. I think the stairway one is a good example of the kind of thing that you see when you are specifically looking for shots, and that you might otherwise miss. That's another aspect of this type of course that I feel can make them worthwhile)
Click to expand...

Glad useful to you :)

Duckydoodle said:
Thanks for the insight Sue. I've been wanting to do a course for ages but not quite finding one that suited what I wanted to do. This sounds like the kind of course I'd enjoy and that would challenge me in the right ways :)
Click to expand...

I can't recommend it enough TBH.

Little Man said:
So, say for example if you did the Level 1 package (whichever one you choose), and you complete it with flying colours, so to speak, do you get a degree from that, or is that a part of what could be a degree should you do level's 2 and 3 at a later date?
Click to expand...

Frankly, no. Just as I can't do well on an A level exam to get a degree. You have to cover the syllabus. If you want to just be assessed on a one off like that, go for ARPS or such.
 
I think i have found the course i could do. I have not found one that a/ gives a degree
b/ home learning
c/ not stupidly priced

I am going to have to read into this more. I might be starting this soon if it continues to sound promising.
 
Hi LittleMan, this might help. It's basically the same model as the OU.
http://www.oca-uk.com/about/ba-hons-in-creative-arts

I suppose one of the points I'll have to investigate is what happens if OCA ceases to exist. They are an educational charity (like OU) so it's unlikely but things do change and it would be a bummer if you were half way through ...... perhaps that's what being under the umbrella of the Uni of Buks provides ... the guarantee that you can finish?

Sue, TVM again for the work put into your responses .... you can 'wibble' away as much as you like. Not enough 'wibbiling' in the world if you ask me ;)

Mau, .... glad you found the thread. PM'ed you at the other place :)

Dave B
 
I'm really tempted to go for this. I've got the photography bug pretty late, so I think this would be great for me.

On the other hand £4.5k buys some nice kit, which is a much sexier way to spend your money :lol:
 
It's a good idea etc, and i'm uber interested.

Just that, to get a BA Hons, you're looking at like £4k.
 
This looks interesting. You need to gain 120 points for each year and as you get 40 points each for the 3 sections in year one they are all compulsory. In year 2 you get 60 points each and there are 3 60 point courses so you get to make a choice although the intermediate photography one is pretty much a no brainer when the advanced one is compulsory in year 3! So you really get to chose between "landscapes" and "social documentary" in year 2 then year 3 is again set.

I would have liked a little more choice but it still looks really good.... thinking.....
 
Well it's great that there is so much interest :)

Just to be clear cowasaki it's not set out in years but in levels. Level 1 = certificate, Level 2 = Diploma & Level 3 = Degree. You can be as fast or as slow as you like in completing them, even take time out if you want to. I would also have preferred a little more choice in the modules but, hey ho, it's the only course of its type (that I have found).

Don't anyone be put off by the apparent lack of activity on the OCA Community Forums ... You can only access a small 'public' subset if not a member. There is also a Flickr group for those currently on the course I believe. When I find it I'll post back

Cheers, Dave B.
 
Out Of Focus said:
Hi LittleMan, this might help. It's basically the same model as the OU.
http://www.oca-uk.com/about/ba-hons-in-creative-arts

I suppose one of the points I'll have to investigate is what happens if OCA ceases to exist. They are an educational charity (like OU) so it's unlikely but things do change and it would be a bummer if you were half way through ...... perhaps that's what being under the umbrella of the Uni of Buks provides ... the guarantee that you can finish?

Sue, TVM again for the work put into your responses .... you can 'wibble' away as much as you like. Not enough 'wibbiling' in the world if you ask me ;)

Mau, .... glad you found the thread. PM'ed you at the other place :)

Dave B
Click to expand...

Hi Dave. Nothing in my inbox in t'other place. D'you want to try again or PM on here :)
 
Another point, you need to be absolutely dedicated to doing it, don't expect any pushiness or drive from the tutors. I signed up about 2 years ago, the early modules were painfully dull and I had absolutely no interest in taking any of the photos required, as I wasn't going to learn anything from them (not being big headed, but it was incredibly basic stuff)

I basically never got into it, and apart from one email about a year ago I've not had any further contact from them.

Obviously this is 100% my fault and a result of my lack of enthusiasm for the course, but my point is - you have to be completely driven, dedicated and up for doing everything, even weeks and weeks of work (maybe a year or more depending on experience) that you may not be learning much from.
 
Yes it’s a very good point Chris and something I’m trying to get resolved in the old grey matter. I’ve had a look at the syllabus and read what others have said of the Level 1 (and even leven 2) tasks and it does concern me that I may find it a bit, er, unengaging / unchallenging at least at the beginning. Why pay £500+ per module for that?

However without the Level 1 credits I wouldn’t get the BA and if I started this I would want to take it through to the end. Whilst this is not to support the pursuit of a career in photography (I enjoy the luxury of being an experienced amateur – something which should not be undervalued) I am also not just doing it just for fun or as a makey-learny ‘get-me-started-in-photography’ type course.

I’d need to ramp up the early work into bigger challenges than perhaps is intended by the assignments as given out. E.g. I believe one of the early Level 1 assignments is “go out and take a dozen shots at different focal lengths and compare the difference between them” …… I’d convert that into taking a dozen shots of, say, a cathedral from one position and, using different focal lengths as the only variable, then create a pictorial description of the building, it’s grounds and the people visiting it …… if you see what I mean.

I think there are two things I’m trying to get out of this (a) the personal achievement of getting the BA and (b) a long term set of projects to re-energise my photography after a period of being in the Doldrums. The idea of working towards holding an exhibition (Level 3 requirement) is something I’ve thought about for years …… this course would bee the spur to actually get my ass in gear and do it.

I am very confident about the OCA as an organisation, I’ve satisfied myself of that part at least.

BTW the flicker group is: flickr.com/groups/ocarts
 
cowasaki said:
This looks interesting. You need to gain 120 points for each year and as you get 40 points each for the 3 sections in year one they are all compulsory. In year 2 you get 60 points each and there are 3 60 point courses so you get to make a choice although the intermediate photography one is pretty much a no brainer when the advanced one is compulsory in year 3! So you really get to chose between "landscapes" and "social documentary" in year 2 then year 3 is again set.

I would have liked a little more choice but it still looks really good.... thinking.....
Click to expand...

That'sassuming you want a BA Hons - you could just get the BA which is only one fo the 60 credit modules form year 3. Also in year 1 there are 4 modules to chose from, 3 photography and 1 digital arts.

As for the cost, it is the same as Uni before top-up fees were introduced. Its the time that make me wonder - the 60 credit modules in years 2 and 3 only take the same time as the 40 credit modules from year 1 (with the exception of the social documentary)
 
Uneducated_Rick said:
That'sassuming you want a BA Hons - you could just get the BA which is only one fo the 60 credit modules form year 3. Also in year 1 there are 4 modules to chose from, 3 photography and 1 digital arts.

As for the cost, it is the same as Uni before top-up fees were introduced. Its the time that make me wonder - the 60 credit modules in years 2 and 3 only take the same time as the 40 credit modules from year 1 (with the exception of the social documentary)
Click to expand...

I am really very interested in this now, I didn't see the digital arts bit in the prospectus though. What is the difference with the social documentary? I may end up looking at that one instead of landscapes as I want to do the theory type modules in each year.
 
I think it is great that the OCA is being talked about.

One point that you might want to consider is that the full degree consists of 7 courses, but it is possible to seek exemptions. There are two ways to do this. If you have credits from other relevant courses you can potentially transfer them. However of possibly more interst is that if you have a portfolio of work it is possible to gain credit through having your work assessed. The technical term is APEL and there is some information on this page
 
Gareth OCA said:
However of possibly more interst is that if you have a portfolio of work it is possible to gain credit through having your work assessed. The technical term is APEL and there is some information on this page
Click to expand...
Hi Gareth TVM for dropping into TP to help with this thread. I had not picked up on APEL and certailny will chech out the link :)

Cheers, Dave B.
 
Welcome Gareth to TP !

Are you acting as a representative of OCA here ? I've always considered getting a 2nd degree in something I love rather than my first degree which was done to feed and house myself ;). Any information you can provide and feedback in general about the course would be very appreciated !

Cheers
 
Hi again Gareth ... .would that be Gareth Dent? I've just registered for the OCA community forums and see you post there. Printed off all the APEL details + the Showcase paper and will have a good read on the train. TVM for your input.

Dave B.
 
Hi

Just seen this thread, i am wondering if you have to complete all the courses to gain the Ba(Hons). I have seen that there is a couple of courses in each part, 1,2,3 etc.

Cheers

Lee
 
purplepleaser said:
Hi

Just seen this thread, i am wondering if you have to complete all the courses to gain the Ba(Hons). I have seen that there is a couple of courses in each part, 1,2,3 etc.

Cheers

Lee
Click to expand...

It's a points based course so to get an Hons Degree you would need to complete all 3 parts and gain enough points in each level to get given the Hons. Complete Level 1 with 60 (i think) you'll get a certificate, complete level 2 with similar level of points you'll get awarded a DipHE, level 3 the degree, level 3 with a lot of points, the hons degree

Points Assessment

Taken from PDF

OCA has a Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE), Diploma of Higher Education
(DipHE) and a BA Hons (Creative Arts) Degree validated.
If you are wondering about a degree, you will need to accumulate 360 points in
total, and at least 120 of these must be at Level 2 and 120 at Level 3.
However, academic institutions also award other qualifications. With 120 points, no
matter at what level, you may obtain a Certificate of Higher Education. With 240
credit points, at least 120 at Level 2 or above, you may obtain a Diploma of Higher
Education.
 
thanks for that, i am really tempted. Might give them a ring.

Cheers
 
Gareth OCA said:
However of possibly more interst is that if you have a portfolio of work it is possible to gain credit through having your work assessed. The technical term is APEL and there is some information on this page
Click to expand...
Hi Gareth, nice to see another OCA bod posting on the thread. Not sure whether you're a student or part of the college but, either way, welcome, and thanks for the link.

One thing that would be really handy would a sample completed APEL form giving some idea of the kind of thing that would be needed for exemptions from each of the courses. There is a B&W photography portfolio, but it's not really clear which modules (if any) that could count as a credit against.

Some of the other portfolios show the format that is needed, but they're not for the photography course. I'm thinking that if a student wants to apply for exemptions for, say People and Place, Landscape, and Progressing with Digital, then it's going to be difficult to come up with a portfolio that hangs together as a single piece of work. It's going to be more a collection of sample photos. And it's also difficult to know exactly what it is they're looking for for each of the modules.
 
Well my mortgage guaranteed rate finishes in two months and will drop by a big chunk so I have decided to give this a go and enroll then. Looks really good!
 
Can you complete 120 credits and gain a CertHE before moving on to the DipHE and beyond, or do you have to say you intend to go all the way to whichever level you want to go to from the start?
 
I believe it's entirely up to you what you do with the points. You can do all the modules in level one and not get them assessed. That way you've learned something but not paid to get the chance to see if your work is up to CertHE level. I think to do the 2nd level courses you need to have the first ones assessed. There doesn't appear to be any pressure to commit to any of it. One to discuss with the OCA.
 
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