Filled with optimism, you selected your seat in Photo 101 with the care of a baseball fan choosing a perch at the World Series. The road to this momentous day was long and full of obstacles—the first of which was selling the financial underwriters, namely your parents, on the merits of pursuing a formal education in photography. Before the subject was broached, you knew what their arguments would be. They’d say that making a living as a photographer is a longshot, that you don’t need a degree to be a photographer, that the attrition rate for students enrolled in photo programs is high, that lab and equipment costs for photo majors are expensive, and that a more traditional liberal arts education could offer better career options—including that of becoming a professional photographer. In your heart, you knew they were right, but your heart was filled with passion. You knew your decision to study photography would prevail.
Above photograph © Dan Wagner
The Good
Some of the good things about a formal education in photography that are harder to quantify include:
- The lifelong friendships you will make with fellow photographers
- Opportunities to network for assisting gigs
- Making connections with people from other creative majors who may hire you in the future
- Having time to experiment and learn from seasoned instructors
- Qualifying for freelance and permanent work from your school’s job placement office
Passion
From an early age, you were drawn to artistic pursuits. Regardless of what sparked your passion, the first time you took a photo and saw the result, something “clicked” and you were hooked. Imagining what a photo will look like before you take it is a lot like envisioning your future as a college student. Realizing that vision is immensely satisfying. So is the ability to convince yourself to throw caution to the wind and do what you want.
Fun
Before going to school for photography, many students imagine they will be spending all their time simply taking photos and having fun. The reality is most schools will expect photo majors to fulfill many of the same course requirements as liberal arts majors. So students dreaming of avoiding Math, English, and other classes are in for a rude awakening. In fact, some photo programs that emphasize technical skills may even require courses in chemistry, calculus, and electronics. Therefore, it’s important to carefully evaluate each program, visit as many colleges as possible, and know exactly what you’re getting into. Finding the right match is the best way to ensure that pursuing a formal education in photography is, indeed, fun.
Financial
Whether self-financed or funded by family, weighing the pros and cons of going to college for photography are more or less the same. Photo programs can cost in excess of $60,000 per year, and can result in student debt that will feel insurmountable to someone on an assistant photographer’s salary. Fortunately, there are options for whittling the costs down to something more manageable.
First, many community colleges offer both an associate’s degree in photography and a path to transfer seamlessly to a pre-approved four-year program at another institution without losing course credits. The downside is that you could wind up having to start over if you decided to switch majors or transfer to a college that doesn’t accept your credits. Making such critical decisions at the age of 17 or so can be difficult. While many schools offer some combination of financial aid and grants, most educational costs usually fall on the shoulders of the students and their families.
Value
Most photo programs generally are either commercial or fine art oriented. And the differences between the two are vast. As the name implies, commercial photography coursework is geared toward assignment photography and developing camera work, lighting, and business skills. By graduation, students should have a commercial portfolio with images to which potential clients can relate. The commercial photography career trajectory takes time to develop, and usually transitions from work as an assistant, to choosing a specialty, creating a portfolio, acquiring clients, and opening a studio.
While there’s some skill crossover between commercial and fine art photography, the latter, when viewed from a commercial photographer’s perspective, is often characterized as talking a good photo as opposed to taking a good photo. Yet, as editorial photography moves in a fine art direction, advertisers frequently seek out fine art photographers to make their ads look more like editorial work and less like advertisements. To address this dynamic, many commercial and fine art photography programs have borrowed various skills sets from each other to turn out well-rounded students.
The fine art photography career trajectory can also take many years and many forms. These can include pursuing a graduate degree, showing in galleries, working at museums, and teaching. Part of getting value for the time, energy, and money expended on a photography degree is choosing carefully between commercial, fine art, or a blend of the two.
The Bad
So there you are, day one, bright and eager, front row center in Photo 101. Surveying your fellow students, you try to figure out how your skills, interests, and personalities will compare. With luck, your classmates will share your passion, be constructively competitive, and share the school’s equipment, instructor’s time, and facilities equitably—but don’t count on it.
Because many students fail to research majoring in photography adequately, they become disillusioned and drop out, which is why many photo programs have such high attrition rates. Before enrolling in a program, it’s a good idea to ask what the attrition rate is. Don’t be surprised to learn that as few as half of the students who begin a program actually finish it. Teachers often address this issue by stating that the students who drop out contribute to the financial survival of the school. Consequentially, when the number of applicants is low, schools will often admit fewer qualified and less motivated students. But, there’s no guarantee you will end up in a great group: one section of students can be completely different from another. It’s pure kismet.
The Ugly
While each student’s experiences will be different and unique, you should be forewarned about the ugly side of pursuing a photography education. It can include:
- Waiting for two hours for your turn to photograph the model
- Dealing with your school’s surly equipment managers
- Having instructor time monopolized by unprepared students
- Getting your camera stolen from your locker
- Feeling that your work doesn’t measure up to classmates’
Yet the ugliest moment of all is wondering what you will do the day after graduation. If you’re lucky, you will have landed a cool job as a paid assistant with a photographer whom you admire. Or perhaps you’ll land an internship at a trendy gallery and hobnob with the elite.
Above all, you will simply need to persevere. After all, when considering the good, the bad, and the ugly of pursuing a formal education in photography, you can rest assured that education is never wasted. At worst, you will obtain photography skills that enrich your life. At best, you will put yourself on the path to career success. Good luck!
