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11/12/2003 02:56:35 AM · #1 |
| I have a question about different degree that I should take if I want to make somewhat of a living with photography. I went to one of the local colleges for a tour yesterday because I am done with my Associates in the spring. I was hoping their Photography department would be good, accepting of digital, and what I was looking for. Well it wasn't. I told the advisor of the department that I wanted to do some commercial photography or photojournalism. He told me I was in the wrong place, that they were a modern art photography department. I saw some of the photos that were hanging around the building of student works and I don't know if there's something wrong with me, but I thought most of the photos weren't that great. I don't like the blurry photos, they just don't make sense to me and that was what was there. There also seemed to think that digital photography was lower than film. I called another college in the area because my Photoshop professor told me that I should do their Communications program. Within that degree you will get a communications degree as well as you can kind of define it how you want. Meaning, they have photography classes within the department as well as commercial and photojournalism. The department also works with the major news papers in the city and gets some of their students internships to work as reporters and photographers. Do you guys think that a communications degree in the long run would be better than a photography degree in this aspect??? I'm going through one of those life changing decisions right now. I'm confused and just wanted somewhere to rant and think about all of this. |
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11/12/2003 03:09:46 AM · #2 |
Jubei I am in the criminal justice field myself, but I would advise you to educate yourself on where the money lies, meaning go for the field that would give you more of an oppurtunity to find a field that is interesting to you and that you can intergrate into what you want. Photography is a wonderful and exciting field, but..there are alot of well known photographers that have never been to college much less earned a degree in photography, My advice to you ( for what it is worth) I would go for the communications and possibly journalism field so you would also have a chance to flash your camera from time to time.Hope this helped.
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11/12/2003 06:28:51 AM · #3 |
| Advantages of a Communications major are that you will probably develop reading/writing skills which transfer to virtually any endeavor, and that you will probably get exposure (pun intended) to video/movie techniques. If you can't get a job as a nature photographer being a cinematographer or news cameraman might not be bad alternatives .... |
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11/12/2003 08:19:11 AM · #4 |
If I were you, I would look for a photography program geared towards commercial photography. Most of these schools have strong Graphic Design programs as well. I can think of a couple out west, but they are in California and not Utah where you are. You might want to look into the Photography program at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA or Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA. I also have heard good things about Otis Parsons in Pasadena, but I'm not sure. Cal Poly will be difficult to get into and their program is impacted, but it's worth trying.
Most university level photography programs that I have been exposed to provide for some opportunity to experiment with film/video as well.
While it is true that a lot of very successful photographers have educational backgrounds outside of photography, many more do have that background. If photography is soemthing you want to make your career, then do it. Don't get a degree in something you are only marginally interested in just because someone tells you that you can make good money there. You will regret it forever.
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