Art college questions(didn't know where to post this)

[photog4life]

Hello I had a few questions about art colleges and admissions. I've talked to a few counselors but I still have some questions that are photography specific and I doubt they could help. Or they might even give "exaggerated" answers to get me to go there.


1)Portfolios: How do I put a portfolio together? Is it a literal folder filled with prints? or is it a website? If it's a website do you guys have a site you recommend?(preferably free) How many pictures are recommended for a portfolio?

2) Is it worth it?: I'm gonna guess that there are probably quite a few photographers on here that sell there work. Did you go to college? Have you lost a "gig" or shoot because your competitor had a college degree? To the people that did go to college was it worth it? Did you learn alot? Did it help you to go to college or do you think you could have accomplished the same stuff without a degree.

For anybody wondering the main schools I have been looking at are CCA and Academy of Art-San Francisco because they are both in San Francisco which is where I have been planning on moving for a couple years now.

I will probably have more, but for now this is it. Thanks guys for the help! I really appreciate it!

 

[Light Guru]

Portfolios: How do I put a portfolio together? Is it a literal folder filled with prints? or is it a website? If it's a website do you guys have a site you recommend?(preferably free) How many pictures are recommended for a portfolio?

Portfolios can be ether print or digital in my opinion you should have both. Don't use a free one I've never seen one of those that looks good. Check out squarespace.

Is it worth it?: I'm gonna guess that there are probably quite a few photographers on here that sell there work. Did you go to college? Have you lost a "gig" or shoot because your competitor had a college degree? To the people that did go to college was it worth it? Did you learn alot? Did it help you to go to college or do you think you could have accomplished the same stuff without a degree.

Nobody ever lost a photography job because they didn't go to college. You loose them because your work does not reflect what the customer wants.

95% of photographers that make a living from photography are self employed so studying business will probably do you far more good then going to art school.

 

[Designer]

IMO art classes can help some, particularly in knowing what you're looking at. You can take some art classes while you're in business school.

 

[Tamgerine]

Hello I had a few questions about art colleges and admissions. I've talked to a few counselors but I still have some questions that are photography specific and I doubt they could help. Or they might even give "exaggerated" answers to get me to go there.


1)Portfolios: How do I put a portfolio together? Is it a literal folder filled with prints? or is it a website? If it's a website do you guys have a site you recommend?(preferably free) How many pictures are recommended for a portfolio?

2) Is it worth it?: I'm gonna guess that there are probably quite a few photographers on here that sell there work. Did you go to college? Have you lost a "gig" or shoot because your competitor had a college degree? To the people that did go to college was it worth it? Did you learn alot? Did it help you to go to college or do you think you could have accomplished the same stuff without a degree.

1) Typically an art college will have portfolio requirements listed on their admissions pages. Printed portfolios can get pretty bonkers and expensive and you may not get them returned. Does your college's website list how many photos should be submitted for consideration/scholarships.

2) I dropped out of my commercial photography program and ran away to be a photographer for the military. Six years of that has given me more photographic, life, and work experience than that degree was ever going to give me. I'm now pretty close to my BS in Business. Photography is more about running a business than it is about actual photography, so that may do you more good than an actual photography degree may.

Attending college for photography will give you a lot of opportunities to practice your craft and network - the question is if you're going to be able to keep up the momentum once you graduate. Then you still need to learn the business aspects of the industry in order to be successful. The degree may open doors but it isn't going to replace work experience and a solid portfolio of excellent work.

You have to decide if the cost of the degree outweighs what you're going to do instead of going to college. If you're just planning on living in your parents basement and eating cheetos for the next four years then yes, the degree is probably a better choice.

Now, take the money you might pay for college and put it towards equipment, workshops, personal projects, and business courses. Does that outcome look better in the end?

In my personal opinion? A photography degree is not worth it.

 

[Big Mike]

I would suggest both on-line and printed portfolios. There really isn't a standard, so find out what they want or require and create it to suit your purpose.

Like anyone who is trying to make choices about their post secondary education, you should do a career investigation. Talk to some professional photographers and ask them a bunch of questions like what they did, what they are doing now, if they are doing what they thought they would be doing or if it's what they want to be doing. Ask them what they recommend you to do.

Obviously, you should choose to reach out to photographers that do the type of photography that you want to do, or interests you the most. Simply "selling their work" is likely a much smaller part of the equation than you might think. More often, it's about selling their service as a professional photographer...which eventually includes actual photos, but it's the time/service that is where you'll likely make the most money.

So if you're interested in fashion photography, talk to photographers who shoot that. If it's weddings and/or portraits, then talk to photographers doing that. Maybe you would like to work as more of a commercial/advertising photographer or maybe landscape/wildlife or maybe more of a journalistic direction.

Are you thinking of getting 'a job' as a photographer, or are you more inclined to open/run a photography business?

One of the good things about photography/art school is that it can immerse you in the culture and gives you a great opportunity to network. But again, you need to decide what you want to do because the art school connections that you make, might be completely useless for some photograph careers or they might be essential for others.

As some have said already, and I'm guess would be the most common answer...I believe that for 'most' photography career options, an art or photography degree/diploma won't be worth the cost/time it takes to get it. It doesn't mean that it would be wasted time, you still need to learn & practice the craft, but that doesn't require an actual school.

And if running a business is along the lines of the photography career that you want to have, then business education would likely be very valuable. Most photography businesses fail because of a lack of business skills, not a lack of photography skills. On the plus side, if you later decide that photography (or the arts in general) are not a viable career option for you...a business degree can be applied to just about any field.

Another option you might take, would be some sort of apprenticeship. Most people will tell you that they learned more in a month of on-the-job training, than they did in a year of schooling. The hard part would be finding a photographer who would be willing to take you on as an apprentice.

 

[photoguy99]

Can't speak to now but ten years ago the Academy of Art University in SF was a bunch of scammers. A very very successful bunch of scammers.

Mainly, they were slumlords making their money renting illegal units to their students to live in, and offering an exceedingly poor Art education as a sort of incidental sideline. And making spectacular amounts of money doing it.

Check then out carefully and comparison shop before signing up.

 

[webestang64]

I went to art collage back in 1985. I only went for a 2 year degree because I was learning so much more working in photo labs and studios.

My portfolio at the time was a very nice portfolio photo album that held 20- 11x14 prints. Today, I am to assume that a digital portfolio is needed, but I also think that a "hard" copy is needed as well..

 

[DougGrigg]

I'm currently at a university in England studying photography.

portfolio at the time (4 years ago) was just a hard copy, but digital can never hurt too. They just want to see how your eye works, so they obviously know you're not refined yet, so they don't expect that.

interview process is also to follow, people skills in photography is a must, if you are really secluded, they may not want you back, unless your portfolio is amazing.

i've enjoyed studying photography, but would recommend studying a foundation to get a taste of all medias before just choosing photography, i don't regret studying photography, but every college/ university has loads to offer.

See who lecture, who teaches, how much 1 on 1 time will you get? I've been fortunate enough to be tutored by - liz wells, jem southam, david chandler, simon standing, stephen vaughn amongst others even including lectures from some magnum photographers. Education is brilliant, if you're passionate about photography the course is great. Hope you find a course you like and enjoy.

 

[JoeW]

There are a bunch of really good responses in this thread--I particularly like Tammy's. Check out her work and you'll see that she's successfully making the transition from Combat Camera/military service photography to her own business as she gets ready to muster out.

Here's my take:

1. Totally depends on what you want to do. Unless you're seeking to be a teacher, nurse, or accountant, you should NEVER go to college or a school program in order to get a job. Even the best schools will have practical gaps in terms of being a successful professional. As far as art and photography programs, they're all over the place. The best ones will improve your eye and your understanding of art and how photography fits in it and will feed your creativity. The worst ones will be a way to part you from your money with almost no tangible benefit. None of them will set you up to be a successful business. So if you're looking for the school to teach you how to set up and be a successful photography business, then skip it.

2. If you want to learn the nuts and bolts of photography, then be an assistant someplace. You'll learn about equipment and setting up shoots.

3. If you want to learn about a successful business (how to actually make money doing this thing called photography) than go to business school. Understand that most photographic businesses fail. That to be successful (financially) as a photographer usually means having a market niche (like specializing in weddings...or pet portraits...or food photography....or commercial office space...or product photography...or youth sports team portraits). And so you'll spend a lot of time learning how niche (meaning...studying food or connecting with wedding planners/cake makers/wedding sites or handing out at agility/speedball/herding/field trial events, etc.) and building connections.

4. As far as your portfolio questions....if it's an application to a school, they'll usually specify what they want (in terms of format, size, number). Otherwise, it tends to be dictated by the field (i.e.: a portfolio for fashion/design vs. one for food). This absolutely is not a case where there's only one way to do it and all of us are in on the format/style/look/size and we just haven't shared it with you yet.

 

[snowbear]

Look at this web site: Home

Many colleges will send representatives to these and review printed portfolios on site. You can get advise on specific works as well as the whole portolio, and if you desire, apply to a school on site - they may waive applications fees.