I have been working within photographic education since 2011, and each year I review up to 200 portfolios created by students leaving school and hoping to start university. As such, I have seen a lot of images created as a response to briefs set by teachers having to fulfill the demands of examining boards, within a National Curriculum, that requires grades to be given to creativity. A difficult task for the student to address and the teacher to deliver.

If you have children, grandchildren or children in your extended family and friends group. Or if you are interested in the future of photography, I think that what I am about to say may be useful and interesting.

The problem is this. Firstly the tasks being set have very little to do with the world of photography, most photographers would recognise. Secondly, photography at GCSE and A Level in the UK is often taught by non-photographers, teachers who are required to teach both art and photography. I raised one of the outcomes that these issues present on Threads recently and received a torrent of aggressive, accusatory feedback. I checked to see if any of those commenting were teachers and it did not seem to be the case. At least it didn’t say so on their profiles and they were not forthcoming in explaining if they were, or not. I was therefore somewhat surprised by their vitriol.

My comment was based on the proliferation of images of buildings, rather than people in student portfolios. This was instigated by my daughter who is currently studying for an art GCSE, being set a project to photograph buildings, as the photography aspect of the qualification. The brief she has been given is titled ‘fragmented photography’, something I have not addressed in over forty years involvement with the medium. The images she has made will be used for collages, manipulation and they will draw them. They will not be judged as photographs. This is fine as a starting point for creativity, but it is not ticking any boxes in learning about photography.

The ‘buildings’ idea is just one project that is being set that does little to help students to truly explore photography. Others include, making Andy Warhol copies in Photoshop, Alice in Wonderland ‘fashion’ shoots, and painting with light. Now, you may put forward an argument for all of these as being relevant and useful, but I speak to students every year who tell me the opposite. As soon as they start studying on the course I lead at Oxford Brookes University they realise that they have learnt little of what they really need to learn.

Few, know how to use their cameras, even less can name photographers who inspire them. Outside the names they have been given from Instagram or Pinterest. They have no concept of how photographers work, or how it is commissioned. They have not been shown how photography impacts their lives. All of this despite at least two years, studying the medium. To address these issues we have had to refocus our first semester in the first year, to teach what many would consider to be the basics of the medium. This decision is based on our review of their prior learning and as a response to the students themselves asking for workshops and lectures that cover fundamental photography skills. They recognise the failings of their previous learning.

I am not blaming teachers, but I am blaming those who write the curriculum the teachers have to teach. I have read them, and in my opinion, they are not fit for purpose. They would be a challenge for an experienced photography teacher to deliver, let alone someone from an art background with limited photography experience. It’s like learning French, from a Spanish speaker. It’s possible, but it will never be as good as learning from someone for whom Spanish is their first language.

My views and opinions are mine and I am aware that others exist. I respect alternate opinions, if they come from informed combatants and commentators, but I don’t have to agree with them. You don’t have to agree with me. It would be a boring world if we all agreed. However, in this case I decided to ask my students what they thought about my comment. They saw no issue with it, and agreed with what I said. This made me wonder who the photographers were who criticised me so vociferously. Were they undercover teachers? Offended by my assertion. If so perhaps they should spend more time listening to their students and less following the boards, who are forcing them to teach a confused and dishonest curriculum. I am being flippant here as I respect that they are only doing their jobs. I know that, but I regularly hear from teachers who feel the same as me, across a range of subjects they teach. However, I believe that there is a specific problem with the teaching of photography, between the ages of 14 to 18, and that problem is preventing students from progressing with the medium. In short, it is confusing. It confuses art based experimentation with photographic practice. It promotes a dissatisfaction with the simple, unmolested photograph. In doing so, it discourages young people from studying photography as a stand alone subject.

Everything I have written here may make you angry, you may disagree and state that I have no knowledge of what I am saying. You may feel that I have an agenda, which makes me write such comments. If you do, you are wrong. Everything I have stated is based on real life experience. It’s not opinion, but observation. It may not be yours, but that doesn’t make my views incorrect. I feel a moral responsibility to ensure that photography is taught with honesty, insight and with a sense of journey. Never just to tick boxes or give grades. I hope you feel the same. Of course, you may just agree with everyting I have said…

Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained(Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style(Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers(Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.

© Grant Scott 2026