Photography - Analogue: NQ (Level 6)

Course overview

“A good photograph is one that communicates a fact, touches the heart and leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it. It is, in a word, effective.”

Irving Penn

The NQ Analogue Photography course, a unique programme to Kelvin, offers a fantastic foundation and grounding in the principles of the camera, light and the creative process.

Analogue photography has experienced a huge revival recently with the reintroduction of film stocks, the launch of new cameras and the popularity of Lomo photography.

Film is so valuable, when you only have 36 shots loaded up in your camera, you need to slow down the process, consider your image and value when you are going to hit the shutter button. Developing a film takes time too, it’s an art form and you, as the ANALOGUE photographer, are immersed in the whole process.

There's a wonderful satisfaction of loading a camera, shooting, unloading, developing the film, hanging it up to dry, cutting into strips of 6 and then making prints on the enlarger in the darkroom. It's a very tactile experience in this age of the cloud. This is a great starting point in your photography career with the opportunity to progress to a higher level of study and to go on to develop your digital photography technical skills too.

This course is ideal if you are new to analogue photography and you want to learn essential darkroom techniques and to explore the many possibilities a darkroom has to offer. You will use a variety of camera formats - the course includes black & white film development, making contact sheets and making prints with an enlarger.

While some digital aspects, such as scanning will be explored, the practical part of this course will be primarily dedicated to the analogue process.