Art as my college major? Is it worth it? Help!

Most working photographers today are self-employed. There are very few staff photographer jobs.

So be sure you take as many business related electives as you can. Marketing and salesmanship skills will be important.

The majority of retail photographers don't make an income above the poverty line, and support their 'photography business' with other income - which often comes from a spouse that works in another industry, or a 'day' job.
The national average income for retail photographers (about $32,000 a year) is skewed by the somewhat less than 15% or so of retail photographers that make more than $50,000 a year.

Some basic math shows how the numbers work.

Assume you take a self-employed salary at 20% of sales.
To have income of $30,000 a year (@ 20% of sales) a retail business (of any kind) would require total income of $150,000 for the year. That is $12,500 per month ($2,907 per week @ 4.3 weeks per month) and retail photography is a seasonal business.
Most retail photographers only manage to shoot 42 to 45 weeks per year, plus it's difficult to do more than 2 shoots a day, and it's difficult to have more than 4 shooting days per week. Most of the photographer's time is necessarily spent doing pre/post shoot, and business tasks. In fact, a majority of a photography business owners time is spent on business tasks.

So that would be 8 shooting sessions per week, times 45 weeks. That is 360 shoots per year. $150,000 divided by 360 shoots means you would need to maintain an average sale of $417 per shoot.
(Consider too, that means you have to generate an average of 34.5 shoots per month.)

Of course, being self-employed, out of the $30,000 you would pay for your health insurance, income taxes, social security taxes, and other personal expenses.
 
Go with the political science.

Do photography as a side-job.

Seriously.
 
Just buy a degree online and skip all the BS.
 
Damn, mixed advice online and from friends & family. What to do, what to do?
 
HAAAAAA that's wicked funny. Art is not usually associated with money, my friend. So if you are wanting a steady, reliable income, I would advise doing art as a hobby...get an occupation that you enjoy asap bro. There's always working in design and all that sort of thing...if doing art for other people is your bag...but is definitely not mine. I've actually been to both...art school and regular college...i'm very glad I did the second.

And addressing you question...."
did you truly learn more than you would have on your own?". By the way you phrased that question I can see you already know the answer...and you are totally right! Four years of art school is a lot of practice doing art....and the art history is very very good for the soul and crucial for good art appreciation....but you can definitely get all that crap on your own.
My vote: Art as a hobby....find a great occupation to support your hobby. Good Luck!!
 
I think you should consult with professional advisors, teachers, professional adults that you know......

....not a bunch of random internet idiots.


LOL!!!!!! HA HA good one, man
 
I think I've come to a decision. Just do a double major.
 
Computer Science, Finance, or Marketing. Then you can afford to do art.

Sadly, I was an idiot and got a nearly worthless psychology degree! :meh:
 
Yeah I think Art and Psychology are in the same boat. Those majors would sound awesome but I'm really not interested in anything else besides art and political science. After doing some research, it seems that the restrictions on double majors at my university are going to force me to choose one or the other. I'll speak once more to my political science advisor and make a decision from there.
 
If you want to be a photographer, especially a wedding photograper, get a business degree. No one in college is going to teach you how to actually shoot a wedding.
 
Others have said it, I agree. Only do art if you cant live without it. you will be eating a lot of ramen. Get a business degree if you want to pursue photography, it will serve you better.

I have a photography business but also work as an engineer. This pays much more than I would make off the photography with full benefits. It lets me do photography without stressing over eating. So its demoralizing I didnt close a $1k+ sale at the gallery this weekend, but doesnt mean Im busted financially for the month.
 
A degree in Art, Political Science, English or for that matter, just about any Liberal Arts education will land you a job making very little money. That's a very wide generality, and of course there are exceptions to that rule, but I think you will find that to be an accurate statement for the most part.

Good photographers have a grasp on composition, so a background in art clearly will help along those lines. If it were me making the decision, I'd opt for a more marketable degree and perhaps double major in something that interests you, or maybe get a masters degree or take additional classes after getting your "real" degree.

YMMV.

EDIT: I have 4 degrees, so I think I come from a perspective of experience. But, then again, this is just my opinion and we all have one.
 
Damn, mixed advice online and from friends & family. What to do, what to do?

I tend to take family advice like this with a grain of salt. In many cases they're not thinking about what's best for YOU, and instead just thinking about how your decisions will affect their relationship to you.

My mother told me "go to medical school - nurse or doctor. Job security blah blah."

All she wanted was the right to tell people that I'm a doctor even though if I actually did become a doctor I would probably go to jail for malpractice because I wouldn't really care about my patients or my work. XD

"Oh, your leg is green? Take some Tylenol and see me in a week."
 

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