A photography degree can lead to a rewarding career.
Academic preparation for or advancement of a photography career can take many forms, from certificates earned in intensive courses designed to prepare graduates for immediate entry into the profession to master's degree programs that require a bachelor's degree and digital portfolio from entrants. While many colleges offer majors in photography, those that grant photography degrees set themselves apart through their intensive curricula, faculty rosters filled with working professionals and rigorous focus on hands-on experience.
Certificates
Certificate programs offer a range of intensive photography training.
Some of the most demanding, intensive programs combine access to high-end tools with a broad range of classes completely devoted to photographic skills, targeted business acumen and marketplace readiness, all culminating in a professional certificate earned after a year of full-time study. The Hallmark Institute of Photography (Turners Falls, Mass.) and the Portfolio Center (Atlanta) offer certificate programs designed as professional preparation. The Hallmark program lasts 41 weeks and requires 1,400 hours of program participation. The Portfolio Center's program is structured in eight quarters.
Associate Degrees
An associate degree can provide photography training and experience.
Some photographers look for a two-year associate degree rather than a professional certificate if the professional opportunities they plan to seek require that credential. The Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology (Okmulgee, Oklahoma), a public technical institution, grants the associate in applied science degree in an all-digital photography technology program focused on portfolio preparation. The program comprises 88 credit hours, including general education as well as major study. Santa Fe Community College (Santa Fe, New Mexico) offers the associate in arts and associate in applied arts, the former for transfer to a four-year bachelor's degree and the latter for professional preparation. The program covers film as well as digital technologies and provides an understanding of aesthetic and cultural as well as technical and analytical perspectives.
Bachelor's Degrees
A bachelor's degree in photography can offer the right mix of professionalism and academics.
A baccalaureate offers the photographer an academic credential combining specialized studies with a full range of undergraduate educational experiences. The bachelor of fine arts curriculum at Corcoran College of Art and Design (Washington, D.C.) combines traditional darkroom study with digital and video techniques in a program emphasizing individual creativity in the context of cultural and analytical insights. The fine-arts baccalaureate in photography and digital arts at Moore College of Art and Design (Philadelphia) incorporates still, video, interactive and dimensional animation in a studio-focused curriculum. Both programs culminate in a mandatory internship.
Master's Degrees
A graduate degree can offer special skills and advantages.
A master's degree enables a photographer to add advanced studies to an undergraduate degree in or outside her core discipline. The 26-month master of fine arts program at Parsons, part of The New School for Design (New York City), combines as well as juxtaposes conceptual development with production technique in a collaborative atmosphere. The one-year master of professional studies program in digital photography at the School of Visual Arts (New York City) combines two semesters and a summer residency to produce a curriculum designed to augment existing professional skills with intensive experience in all aspects of digital work process.
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