Advice on portfolio?

[JohnnyLovely]

So I'm planning on going to the Art Academy of Cincinnati next year, and I basically need a killer portfolio.
I'm driving up there tomorrow, so I might be able to get some of my questions answered, but thought I'd ask you guys first.
My question(s): What types of photos would you recommend? What style, angles, portraits, landscapes?
Any input would be much appreciated.

 

[JerryPH]

I'll say one thing... variety is the spice of life. What ever you show them, make sure its not crap.

... oh, sorry, that was two things.

 

[JohnnyLovely]

Yeah, that's what I thought. I also plan to do a lot of creative and traditional shots as well.

 

[craig]

When I was in your shoes I interviewed with Parsons and S.V.A. Parsons needed to see that I had more then a photography interest. I didn't get in. S.V.A loved my work, but said they would have liked to see some contact sheets. As a matter of fact I got a 15 minute lecture on the importance of contact sheets. They also mentioned how bad dry mounting was.

I did get in to S.V.A, but I have no idea why. Long story short. Show your best work in window mounts. No more then 12. I am sure Art Academy of Cincinnati has all the details. Main deal is to show that photography is your passion and that you have the drive and motivation to make it your life. Between you and me I do not think they are too concerned with your work at this point in time.

Love & Bass

 

[RyanLilly]

A lot of times they are looking for your passion and enthusiasm more than your work. You work needs to show good understanding of photography and some artistic flare, but mainly they want to see your willingness to learn.

Show us some of your work If you would like any opinions and C&C.

 

[Fiendish Astronaut]

My opinion: 15-20 killer shots maximum, start with your second best, finish with your very best. So start stongly, gets less strong towards the middle then pick it back up again. So your weakest of the set should be in the middle (although not too weak obviously, hence only picking 15-20 shots).

And show variety too. If your best two images are of the same thing just pick one. I use a black mount board too bacause the black compliments my images. And don't be scared to pick YOUR favourite. Listen to others sure, but don't just pick the ones that, for instance, have got the most replies on Flickr. Hopefully there'll be some overlap between the two but if you don't feel passionately about something it'll be difficult for you to talk about it. And part of displaying your portfolio is because they want to meet YOU. So don't just sit back and let your portfolio do the work. It's about both you and the pictures.

 

[rubbertree]

When you go tomorrow, don't be afraid to ask them straight up what they want to see in a portfolio. What are you going for tomorrow? Do you have an app't with anyone or just going to look around? If you can talk to some current students or instructors, ask their opinion on what to include.
When living in BC I applied to a prostegious art school there, but they wanted more than just photography in my portfolio. I suck at everything else! Didn't get in there because I couldn't show enough variety. I think that's crap as I was applying for their photography program, but whatever.
Then I applied to an art school in Alberta, they were fine with only photography in my portfolio. Got accepted on my work but failed the color blindness test (I am tone blind! can see colors but have difficulties distinquishing tones and similar colors) so didn't get in!
So wacky!

 

[JohnnyLovely]

Alright, thanks so much for the feedback.
I never really thought about how they'd be more interested in my enthusiasm than my work, but I can see where that would be the case. Thanks for bringing that to light.
The requirements for the Art Academy are:
10-12 original pieces of art, including 3-5 B&W observational drawings, self portrait, works in color and in various media, i.e., photography, sculpture, painting, printmaking, drawing, computer imaging...
So I was thinking what I would do would be do a photograph for my self-portrait, and a few for my works in color, and maybe throw kin a few paintings or something. Drawing isn't my forte. So rubbertree, I agree with you there; there's too much concentration on the other stuff when I'm a photography student. Oh well.
In conclusion, thanks for this, it has been helpful.
When I figure out what shots I want, I'll put 'em up for critique.

 

[pm63]

What is a window mount?

 

[craig]

A window mount has the photo (archival) taped to the bottom board. A second board is taped on top with a window cut out to frame the photo.

Love & Bass