Our two-year M.A. program »Photography Studies and Research« welcomes anyone fascinated by critical reflection on photography. We aim to impart, deepen, and promote knowledge of the medium’s history, now spanning almost two hundred years, the widely ramified theory of photography, the practical principles of various photographic processes and technologies, questions of restoring and conserving photographic materials, and, last but not least, curatorial practices.
The program always starts in the winter term. Please have a look for the current semester dates. However, it is possible to study the program part-time through individual arrangements.
The tuition fee is currently 319.40 euros per semester (as of summer term 2025), and it includes a ticket for local and regional transportation valid throughout North Rhine-Westphalia. Here you can find detailed information on the composition of the fee.
Tandem of theory and practice
Together with our M.A. Photography Studies and Practice (Photography as Art), our M.A. for the theory and history of photography forms a tandem of two complementary programs. Folkwang University of the Arts is the only European university which brings together, at the master’s level, practical, theoretical, and historical interests in photography. This proximity of artistic and scholarly interests in the medium is our mission! Just as the practice master’s program offers courses dealing with the theory and history of photography, the research master’s program accordingly involves practical courses, introducing students to the techniques and materialities of photography and their artistic uses. Set up as a tandem, we seek an ongoing discourse on photographic forms—old and new. Our annual »Stopover« project, taking place in January and February of each year, enables students from both master programs to set up an exhibition and also a public workshop, taking place in the SANAA building
Previous knowledge
For studying the M.A. »Photography Studies and Research,« we expect a bachelor’s degree (or, if applicable, a master’s degree) in disciplines from the humanities or social sciences related to the theory and history of photography (e.g. art history, philosophy, as well as media, cultural, literary, linguistic or historical studies, sociology, and ethnology). Graduates holding an artistic degree can be admitted if they have particular academic aptitude.
The focus of our M.A. program
The academic curriculum of »Photography Studies and Research« comprises six main subjects: (1) history of photography, (2) theory of photography, photography in the fields of (3) art history, (4) society, (5) and history of science, and finally (6) institutional practices of photography (art criticism, working with and in collections and archives, curatorial theory and practice, the art market). Students benefit from a close-knit network of institutional partners outside the university. Here you can find all previous courses from our M.A. program (since 2015).
Partners
The M.A. program »Photography Studies and Research« continuously seeks cooperation with important collecting and exhibiting institutions to link academic and curatorial interests. Students work on current projects as part of their courses and can gain their own experience at an early stage. In addition to the Museum Folkwang, the Ruhr Museum, and the Krupp Historical Archive in Essen, institutional partners have recently included the Museum for Photography in Berlin, the DZ Bank Art Foundation in Frankfurt am Main, the Museum for Applied Arts in Hamburg, the Sprengel Museum in Hanover and the Kunstmuseum Ahlen (Westphalia). We constantly expand this circle of partners.
Practical courses
The practical courses focus on three aspects: (1) in the first semester, a comprehensive course introduces students to the apparatus-based aspects and materialities of photographic processes. (2) At the beginning of each semester, on the occasion of a joint kick-off event, all students from both M.A. programs come together to present the current projects, putting them to the critical test for the first time. (3) In the second and third semesters, all students from »Photography Studies and Research« take part in one (or more) of the artistic courses offered in the practice master’s program and gain insight into new works and how to develop and discuss artistic projects.
Further course work
Philosophy and design history courses complement the M.A. »Photography Studies and Research.« Out cooperation with the Department of Art History at the neighboring Ruhr University Bochum enables research master students to take part in courses there as well. In addition, the academic and practical studies may involve a philosophical study group (weekly), a film series (bi-weekly), exhibitions in our Gallery 52 (approximately three-weekly), guest lectures on current issues in the theory and history of photography as well as on aesthetics, philosophy and cultural studies (three times per semester) as well as academic workshops and symposia (approximately once a year).
Educational goals
Our educational goals in brief: profound knowledge of the history and theory of photography, comprehensive practical understanding of photographic processes (analog/digital), experience in the critical reckoning of artistic work processes, media analysis in a broader context, curatorial and art-critical skills, experience in the organization of academic events, critical reflection on research literature and first publishing experience, independent research based on individual semester projects, confident use of English as an academic working language, networking with national and international institutions working with photography.
Call for applications
We welcome your application on May 31st of each year. The suitability of all applicants is determined in interviews. The prerequisite for this interview is a sample chapter from a more extensive work (for instance, a B.A. thesis) or an article (c. 15,000 to 30,000 characters each) that deals with a self-chosen subject from photo history and/or photo theory, substantiating a serious interest in photography. The interviews take place online by the end of June of each year; acceptance letters will be sent out shortly afterward. (All dates are subject to change.)
Please look here for all necessary information on the application process, the examination regulations, and the module handbook.
Do you have more questions? Please don’t hesitate to contact us anytime!