Apr 18, 2024  
2023-2024 Catalog 
    
2023-2024 Catalog

Photography, BFA


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The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography program seeks to provide students with a rigorous, professionally focused education in visual communications. The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography program trains students to develop a photography practice with a strong focus on visual communication informed by the broad culture, history, and theory of the medium. The BFA in Photography further explores the processes of conceptualizing, creating, and delivering a body of work that sits at the intersection of craft and innovation. Students cultivate their creative voice while honing the digital expertise, research acumen, and critical thinking skills required to be innovative leaders in the rapidly evolving photography industry.

Through the program’s emphasis on cross genre and cross disciplinary practice, students gain a broader perspective to inform their photography practice. Critical dialogue and collaborative opportunities are vital components of the program, and students are strongly encouraged to collaborate across disciplines to fuel creative exploration. Students will be challenged to demonstrate a broad understanding of issues in relation to social, cultural, technological, and economic concepts. Students may join the BFA program either through direct enrollment or by application during the sophomore year.

As a result of successfully completing program requirements, students should be able to:       

  • use best practice primary and secondary research to communicate photography industry-related concepts and solutions; 
  • effectively apply advanced craft techniques, technology, and vocabulary/terminology relative to the production of their work; 
  • translate historical and theoretical concepts into their photography practice;   
  • understand the importance of photographic representation in context of diversity and equity in order to help create a more inclusive future for the medium;
  • execute all stages of the design process from creative problem solving to concept development to design and fabrication; 
  • describe, analyze, interpret, and contextualize their work and the work of others in relation to the broader canon of creative photographic production; 
  • develop and present a cohesive and competitive professional body of work; and
  • competitively pursue graduate education and/or practice as a photographic artist in the marketplace and in arts-related fields.

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