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RevisionRevision / N11UK · A-Levels
Photography
A-Level Photography is the lens- and light-based endorsement of Art and Design - literally 'drawing with light' - delivered here through the AQA Art and Design: Photography title (7206). It shares the Art and Design structure exactly: the same four equally weighted assessment objectives (AO1 develop ideas through investigations informed by contextual and other sources; AO2 explore and select appropriate media, materials, techniques and processes; AO3 record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions; AO4 present a personal and meaningful response), and the same two portfolio components with NO written examination - Component 1, a self-directed Personal Investigation (a practical portfolio together with a written personal study of 1000 to 3000 words, worth 60%), and Component 2, a response to an Externally Set Assignment (a preparatory period followed by 15 hours of supervised work, worth 40%). It is centre-assessed and externally moderated, graded A*-E. Photography spans portraiture, landscape, still life, documentary and photojournalism, fashion, experimental imagery, and multimedia, installation and moving image, and it has a genuinely optical and technical seam - the camera, the exposure triangle of aperture, shutter speed and ISO, depth of field, lenses and focal length, and chemical and digital processing - alongside the visual language, the genres and the history of the medium. Because these notes cannot reproduce photographs, they teach the language, the technique, the process and the analytical method of photography: how the camera and light are controlled to realise an intention, how the visual elements and composition build meaning within the frame, how each genre works and what its conventions and key practitioners are, how images are produced and processed chemically and digitally, and how a sustained personal photographic enquiry is developed, edited and resolved across the four assessment objectives. AQA's Externally Set Assignment starting points ROTATE each year, so these notes teach the transferable method and use well-known photographers only as neutral illustrations of technique and genre, never as a set task.
0/70 Texts15 Chapters~317 min total
AQA 7206 PhotographyOfqual GCE Art and Design subject contentAQA 7206 Photography (components)AQA 7206 Photography (Component 1)AQA 7206 Photography (Component 2)AQA 7206 Photography (assessment)+64 moreFoundationStandardAdvanced
Table of contents · 15 ChaptersT·15
- The four objectives overviewText L·065 min
- AO1: developing ideas from sourcesText L·074 min
- AO2: exploring media, techniques and processesText L·084 min
- AO3: recording ideas, observations and insightsText L·094 min
- AO4: presenting a personal and meaningful responseText L·104 min
- The AOs as a connected journeyText L·114 min
- Course overview and components
- The four Assessment Objectives
- Photographic media, techniques and processes
- Camera and lens techniques
- Visual language and composition
- Lens- and light-based image production
- Portraiture
- Landscape photography
- Still life photography
- Documentary photography and photojournalism
- Fashion photography
- Experimental imagery
- Multimedia, installation and moving image
- Contextual and historical study
- Personal investigation and personal study
- Component 1 - Personal Investigation (practical portfolio + written personal study)
- A self-directed, practical and theoretical photographic investigation supported by a written personal study. Marked out of 96 and worth 60% of the A-Level; there is no time limit (it is coursework produced over the course). Students conduct a sustained personal photographic enquiry into a theme of their own choosing, shooting extensively from primary sources, researching relevant photographers and contexts, exploring camera, light, darkroom and digital processes, and editing toward a resolved personal outcome or coherent body of work, AND a related written personal study - a coherent, continuous piece of a minimum of 1000 and a maximum of 3000 words that critically analyses relevant photographers, genres and contexts and their own developing practice, properly referenced with a bibliography. All four assessment objectives are assessed. Centre-assessed and externally moderated by AQA.
- Component 2 - Externally Set Assignment (ESA)
- A response to a broad starting point chosen from an externally set question paper released by AQA (available from 1 February). Marked out of 96 and worth 40% of the A-Level. Students have a preparatory period of sustained photographic investigation - research, shooting, development and experimentation - which is unlimited in time, followed by 15 hours of supervised, unaided work in which the final photographic outcome is produced. All four assessment objectives are assessed. Centre-assessed and externally moderated. Because the starting points rotate each year, no theme should be treated as fixed; the method transfers to whatever the current paper sets.
- Assessment objectives (each equally weighted at 25%)
- AO1 - Develop ideas through investigations, demonstrating critical understanding of sources (photographers, genres, contexts). AO2 - Refine work by exploring ideas and selecting and experimenting with appropriate media, materials, techniques and processes (the camera, light, the darkroom, digital editing). AO3 - Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions as work progresses (chiefly the student's own photographs from primary sources, with annotation). AO4 - Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements. Each objective carries 25% of the marks in each component; strong work satisfies all four and shows a clear, evidenced journey between them - and in photography, rigorous editing of many images to a resolved few is where AO3 and AO4 meet.
- Nature of assessment and grading
- Photography, like all the Art and Design endorsements, is a non-examined, portfolio-assessed subject: there is no written paper. Both components are practical bodies of photographic work marked against the four assessment objectives, assessed by the centre and externally moderated by the awarding body. The A-Level is graded A*-E (U below E). The Photography title (7206) shares identical assessment objectives, weightings and component structure with the other Art and Design endorsements (Art, craft and design; Fine art; Graphic communication; Textile design; Three-dimensional design), differing only in its lens- and light-based media and concerns.