Photography
On this page you'll find key resources, as well as guides to help you develop your academic, study, and digital skills.
This subject guide is designed to assist Photography students in finding the best information, whether you’re a new student starting your first assignment or delving into a research project.
Popular pages on the Library website
Three key actions for getting started
Finding information for your assessments
Developing strong information searching skills saves time and brings results. Finding Information Skills covers everything you need for academic searching. Take the Finding Information Skills assessment for a personalised action plan.
- Reading Lists
These are set up by your tutors to guide you to good quality, relevant and useful materials to help you with your studies. They are a great starting point before doing your own research - find out more about your Reading Lists.
- Library Search
Library Search can make your academic life easier by helping you find a range of reliable and trustworthy sources for your work. It contains a wealth of information to help you make the most of your studies, including books/eBooks, journals/eJournals, articles, databases, and more.
Using Library Search may feel daunting at first, but don't worry, we have a range of guides on how to find relevant resources.
Databases
Databases are searchable collections of good quality, academic material, particularly journal articles. They can be small subject specific or large collections covering a wide range of subject areas. Most databases provide access to full-text items.
| A collection of arts databases that can be accessed via ProQuest. | |
| Features hundreds of magazines and journal on all aspects of art and humanities. | |
| A great place to start a search on most subjects, providing access to both books and journal articles. | |
| Provides access to millions of quality, peer-reviewed articles covering a wide range of topics in the sciences and humanities. |
Digital Archives
Digital Archives predominantly contain digitised primary sources. These are original documents and objects that give first-hand accounts of a topic or event and are created by people who had a direct connection with the topic or event. These can be government, company or personal papers, newspapers, books or magazines, or films or works of art.
| A collection of art and architecture magazines dating from 1895 - 2005. The issues are presented as full-colour page images. | |
| A French fashion, art, and culture magazine. | |
| A range of primary sources covering the social, political, and cultural shifts during the period of 1950 to 1975. | |
| A collection of primary sources exploring 100 years of youth culture from Rave, Punk, Rockabilly to Grime. | |
| The Women's Wear Daily Archive preserves one of the fashion industry's most influential reads. | |
| Archive of American Vogue, from the first issue in 1892 to the current month. Each issue is reproduced in full, including advertisements, covers and fold-outs. | |
| The complete run of Vogue Italia – one of the most influential and renowned international editions of Vogue – from its launch in 1964 to the present day. |
Video
Videos offer a dynamic way to absorb information. They often present complex ideas in an easily digestible format.
| An archive of more than 2.2 million radio and TV programmes that have been broadcast in the UK. You can search for, and watch, anything already in the archive, as well as making use of the TV scheduling service. This allows you to record TV and radio programmes that are scheduled to be broadcast over the next seven days. | |
| Provides access to a large, curated catalogue of more than 30,000 educational documentaries and classic films from leading producers. | |
| A substantial collection of videos for a wide range of subject areas including, business, counselling, film, health, history, music, and more. |
Market Research
Use these resources for market trends and sizes, consumer research and analysis of industries and the companies operating within them.
| Predicts consumer, lifestyle and product design trends. It’s a key industry resource for designers working in a wide range of areas, from fashion, beauty and home interiors to hospitality, travel, finance and more. | |
| A trend forecasting company. You can follow upcoming trends, get inspiration, and build concept boards, and colour palettes with their workable tools. | |
| Visually interesting and inspiring. Helps designers understand markets and consumer attitudes, behaviours, and decisions. | |
| Market research reports on a range of UK sectors. Also includes access to Mintel Trends which provides evidence-backed insights on how today's consumer thinks, feels and acts. |
Newspapers & Magazines
Newspapers are a valuable source of information. They provide insight into what interests and concerns people both now and in the past.
The Library gives students and researchers access to wide-range of Newspapers.
| Provides access to the full-text of more than 2,300 major world newspapers. | |
| A database of local, regional, UK national and highly prominent international newspapers, with archives back to the 1980s. |
You can also find a wide range of magazines in the Library and some digital magazines via Library Search, such as:
| Archive of reviews, interviews, and features on popular music artists by writers from the most influential music magazines. Content goes back to 1960. | |
| A selection of articles from digital archives of more than 50 different publications, each addressing the issues of Black Lives Matter with one section dedicated to music. | |
| A bimonthly print magazine and website. The magazine focuses on commercial creativity, covering design, advertising, photography, branding, digital products, film, and gaming. | |
| A bi-monthly British lifestyle magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. | |
| A British music magazine publishing out of London, which has been issued monthly in print since 1982. |
Industry Websites
There are many great websites provided by museums, galleries and artists themselves that it’s not possible to provide a list. However, here are a couple to get you started.
| Provides information about artists and exhibitions, research reports, reviews and campaigns. A really useful way to keep up-to-date on what's going on in the visual arts. | |
| A fantastic resource for visual arts students. It provides access to 140,000 images from a huge number of museums, galleries and archives. | |
| Contains details for influencers and media, PR and brand contacts, as well as fashion industry news. |
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning offers more than 9,000 professionally produced online courses covering a wide range of technical, creative and professional skills.
Always use our institutional link to log in – you will need your University email address and password. The first time that you log in, you will be taken through a setup process to discover courses tailored to your interests.
Discover more in our video: Using LinkedIn Learning at Salford.
Print Books
You can borrow print books from the Library. The location details below are a guide, it is best to use Library Search for exact location of items:
| Classmark | Subject area |
| 770 | Photography |
Study better
- University Assessments
Whilst studying at Salford you will need to complete a range of assessments. We provide a range of guidance on how to approach the different assessment types you may come across.
- Referencing
We provide eLearning, written guides, and an extensive list of referencing examples.
- Skills A-Z
We have developed eLearning over a wide range of subjects for you to develop your academic skills at home and in your own time.
Workshops
We offer online and face-to-face workshops to help you develop your academic skills. These engaging, interactive sessions cover a wide range of topics which take place throughout the year, so check up on the list regularly.
Click on a workshop title to book onto the session via Advantage. If a session has no remaining spaces, sign up to the waiting list in case a space becomes free!
One to one appointments
You can book a one to one appointment with your Academic Support Team to discuss finding information, academic and writing skills, or digital support.
Follow the link below, choose your school and what you'd like support with, then select your chosen time slot and book on through Advantage.
Can't find what you need?
Contact the Academic Support Team using this form. You can also see who's who in the Team.
Key resources for photography students
Books and Journals
The first place you should look is your Reading List – you will find a link to this in your Blackboard modules. It lists all the core texts for your subject as recommended by your lecturers. All our other books and journals can be found in Library Search.
Almost all articles published in the journals we subscribe can be found via Library Search, but there are a couple it may be worth checking individually.
Databases
Whilst Library Search is your starting point when researching a topic, sometimes it's helpful to focus your search using one of our specialist sources.
- Arts & Humanities Database - Lots of articles on all kinds of art and cultural topics.
- Box of Broadcasts - Thousands of TV and radio programmes, including lots of current (and older) programmes on cultural topics.
- Taylor & Francis Journals - Provides articles on all sorts of subjects including material on photography.
- Grove Art Online - Provides access to some important reference publications such as a dictionary of art, and artists and a substantial collection of articles.
- JSTOR - A great range of books and articles on all kind of topics.
- WGSN - A fabulous source for the latest Fashion information. You will need your Salford username and password, (use Lean Library to skip this step) and you will also need to create your own personal login.
- LS:N Global – Useful as a source for more general design inspiration and information about lifestyle trends.
- Detail: Inspiration – Images from the architectural journal Detail. Provides interesting examples of images of buildings and urban settings.
- Kanopy - Videos on a wide range of topics. Search for photography and explore what's there!
Useful links
There are many great websites provided by museums, galleries and artists themselves that it’s not possible to provide a list. However, here are a couple to get you started.
- a-n The Artists Information Company - Provides research and information about contemporary visual arts practice. It offers vital online resources and information for art students, course tutors and researchers.
- Visual Arts Data Service (VADS) - A fantastic resource for visual arts students. It provides access to 140,000 images from a huge number of museums, galleries and archives.
- Fashion Monitor – An industry directory of influencers, media, PR and brand contacts (so useful beyond just the fashion industry).
Read the access instructions – although the University pays the subscription, you will need to set up a personal login using your University email address.
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning offers thousands of professionally produced online courses covering technical, creative and professional skills and including lots on film making.
Always use our institutional login to log in – you will need your University email address and password.
The first time you log in, you will be taken through a setup process to discover courses tailored to your interests.
Find out more in our video: Using LinkedIn Learning at Salford.
Newspapers
These are a great source for reviews and comment on films, filmmakers and actors.
Sources to try include Gale OneFile News and Newsstream. Check our Newspapers web page to see which papers we have access to.