photography degree
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- zarkonite0
If you pick a good school (aka the professors have actual careers and want concepts instead of just pretty pictures) you'll be able to develop your creative process... the technical aspects of photography are fairly easy to learn, besides you'll always have assistants for that in the business world.
I went to Concordia in Montreal and really liked it, it's more of a degree where you learn the fine arts side of things... we spent no time on technical crap, just resolve those problems as needed by your projects. In the end I feel the training I got was more of an art director role than a photographer role... so now I hire photographers that went to technical schools to tell them what pictures I want.
- and like I said, where else are you gonna practice on a Sinar P3 as much as you want =)zarkonite
- studderine0
i'm not sure i would pay 20-40k a year to go to SVA.
- vaxorcist0
get away from the internet and go shoot about 1000 pictures a week for a while, it will soon become clear to you....
- Coffeemaker0
teach yoself!
- Etype0
go to RIT
- janne760
why not learn yourself.
i went to a photography academy but most that came from there are less far in life than the self-taught ones..
- Stugoo0
A friend of mine studied in the University Wales and ended up working for the Observer, Telegraph and other big papers in London. Now she shoots for IPC.
- harlanerskine0
do you have a portfolio site?
- harlanerskine0
sort of but just like when you learn to make music school can be beneficial or it can be pointless it depends on where you want to go with it. If you want to be a classical violinist I imagine it would be hard to make it very far with out the training school would provide. But if you want to be a punk guitarist school doesn't necessarily hurt or help.
- blueeyedsoul22040
i think this is something like making music.. it's easy to learn it on your own..
- somewhat, but you do need some feedback from people with good eyesvaxorcist
- harlanerskine0
Sure you can go to a bad school and not get anywhere. a good or Great MFA program will let you concentrate and work very hard on your personal vision of work. its great if you love what you are doing. take a look at the US news and world reports guide for the top MFA photography programs. then take a look at the people who graduate there and the faculty that teach there. Do you like their work? are they currently working artists? do they show in museums and galleries regularly? or are they only teaching? a good program will have people in the industry working as artists historians and curators.
- kojikabuto0
I would meet kids fresh out of school, trying to get assisting gigs, just spent 100 K and were clueless of how the industry works and how to be a pro
- kojikabuto0
you don't need the degree I think, you just need to learn, be commited to quality, commited to always doing your best, and to produce high end work that will impress clients, do it however you can, school might be a way, but there's also hope if you're not school trained.
I decided not to go to school and I'm really happy about that, I wanted to be a fashion photographer so I guess school was not for me, I did the assisting thing for 4 years in NYC and from there I started getting contacts, meeting people, building a portfolio and basically learning how the industry works and how to deal with the bussines side of being a photographer...
- i think you sum it up pretty good. :-)akrokdesign
- schools a good place to practice with equipment you'll never be able to afford...zarkonite
- paperplanes0
If the main goal is to make money. Intern and assist with a good photographer that you want to learn from. This will help more than a degree. You don't get photo jobs by showing your degree, just a good portfolio. A school portfolio can be spotted a mile away too. I enjoyed getting my photo degree, but it was mostly for the interaction and critique of other students and professors. When I graduated it didn't help me get a job.
- mfa?jaylarson
- +1kojikabuto
- i didn't get a mfa. most mfa's become teachers.paperplanes
- some MFAs become teachers some become artists some do both and some do something completely different.
harlanerskine - I learned more from assisting and shooting commercial jobs than from my MFA...vaxorcist
- kojikabuto0
Maybe you should be an art director instead, and think about mixing both things , advertising and editorial work sounds like a good way to do it...
- i think ai has a degree called "art director". pompous, eh?jaylarson
- jaylarson0
i would like to hybridize my landscape photography more with type. my type and designs. i think there's hope. hmm, looking into sva now.
- harlanerskine0
I really enjoyed my School but don't go if you are NOT looking to really work on 'art' photography.
- jaylarson0
anything that helps me earn income, while allowing for me to do art stuff on the side. so as long as i learn some things like large format, for example, i think i could easily be more employable since i'm a designer too.
long time goal: earn money with landscape photography.
- make $$ - teach workshops to people who want to earn money in landscape photographyvaxorcist
- kojikabuto0
What kind of photography are you aiming for?