Film and Photographic Studies (MA)

Career preparation

Where do our graduates work?

This master's programme gives you a sound basis of knowledge, skills and insights into the theory and practice of film and photography. You will be qualified to perform at a high level in a range of professions, such as a film and photo historian, curator, critic, picture editor or independent exhibition producer.

Some of the positions of our alumni include:

Programmer of a film festival
Assistant curator
Photography editor at a photography magazine
Co-ordinator of photo editing and editor at a press office
Desk editor at an academic publishing house
Project officer for digital education at a Dutch university
Freelance photographer and curator
Freelance photo editor, researcher and producer
Project manager for graphics and communications at a media company
Freelance (image/video) editor
Freelance image editor at a commercial television station
Creative director at a photography festival foundation
Owner of a company producing films and videos

Knowledge and skills

The master’s programme in Film and Photographic Studies at Leiden University aims to equip you with a range of important skills and knowledge that will help you thrive in your future career. Your specialised expertise is complemented by vocational skills and the ability to apply multidisciplinary, critical-thinking skills to solve even the most complex conceptual problems.

Relevant professional skills and experience

Our emphasis on applying what you learn in a professional or practical situation is how we give our students a head-start in their future career. We encourage you to work as an intern in an organisation in the Netherlands or abroad, practice preparing applications for jobs, work on practical projects for real clients, and take on extracurricular activities such as creating film clips.

Connecting you with organisations

Staff at the Film and Photographic Studies programme take an active role in connecting you with professionals at various organisations for example for internships. In recent years students from the master’s programme in Film and Photographic Studies have been doing internships at the following organisations:

International Center of Photography in New York;
Victoria & Albert Museum in London;
Museum voor Fotografie in Rotterdam;
WIELS Contemporary Art Center in Brussels.

Humanities Career Service

Our staff can help you identify both the career that is right for you, and the necessary steps to get you there. Our team at Humanities Career Service provide all Leiden University humanities students with professional advice and guidance on everything from internships and career planning to job applications. Humanities Career Service also organises regular workshops on topics such as effective interview skills and creating a successful CV.

Online Career Week

The first Online Career Week was organised in May 2020. Every day there were 2 events that students could sign up for.

For example, there was a Q&A with interns. Three interns working for respectively Philips, the Dutch Mission to the UN, and the World Economic Forum provided the participants with information on their internships, the application processes and working from home. In addition, a live webinar CV writing took place, and students were able to schedule an appointment with a career counselor for personal advice.