Scholarships?

Field

Field

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As a student I find myself being really short on being able to fund this... even though I am considering the possibility of teaching it later. (I probably could teach it at my University, minus photoshop, already)

In order to build my portfolio of photography in varying ability, show with skills across the board of different equipment, etc, well I am a long ways off from being able to financially come near it.

I would like to look for some ways to change this situation. My friend tells me there is a lot of scholarship money out there that no one ever claims, but I need help finding it. (she never said it was photography specific or anything though)

Hobbies are good, but something I can be good at for a job that helps other people is better.

Thanks.
 
Teach photography, darkroom, digital, all of it!

Fund, all of it! Name something. Film, developers, different formats, etc!

Later in the week I will be doing a program with some kids, we will use B&W disposables. Should be fun. (and funded by the program)
 
Teaching photography at the university level requires at least a masters degree. There are about 300 people earning an MFA for every teaching job that opens every year. It sucks, but you're studying something for which there is basically no demand. You'll have an easier time working as a professional photographer, and given how hard it is to make a living at that, you'll understand how bleak your possibilities are for teaching.

I'm working on my MA, but in history, not art or photography. I am under no illusions of being able to teach with it, there are just no jobs. I'm doing because I love history and want to get my masters degree. I do not expect to ever work with it.
 
All right, the world has changed a lot since I was 25, but as far as I can see, Chris is at least 90% right: the remaining percentage comes from people without higher degrees (or indeed, necessarily any degrees at all) who are welcomed as teachers because they have a superb track record as photographers. Paradoxically, the better regarded the institution, the less they care about what bits of paper you own. Unless they've got your own pictures on them.

The fact that you're still a (presumably full-time) student at 25, and still looking for financial help in order to develop your photography, suggests to me that you are on the wrong track. Sorry to be so harsh, but I can't see that you are being outstandingly realistic.

Cheers,

R.
 
ouch.

sadly, i have to agree with what the others have said. i wanted to major in photography or illustration, but i realized that there are no jobs other than self-employment in those fields and that there are a million gazillion people trying to do the same thing.... the chances of landing enough work to make a living are horrible. so what did i do? majored in Applied Linguistics instead. now if only i could find a job in that!

.....maybe i should've gone into Veterinary Science...... seemingly no shortage there.
 
The scholarships I am familiar with are also not usually for teaching; they are for research or a course of study. Universities hire people to teach, and increasingly tightly prescribe what they teach - I currently teach at three and have a PhD and two other higher postgraduate degrees in unrelated fields.

Marty
 
I got my MFA back in '96 with dreams of teaching, but at that time the schools were making a real effort to change the 'makeup' of the teaching faculty to reflect the diversity of the student body. Don't know if that situation still exists today.

Not that I'm any great voice of experience, but I think you need to go and 'do' first before you teach. Perhaps assisting a working photographer as well as doing some TA work? I think the MFA would be essential, but combining that with some real-world photography experience would make you more marketable as a teacher. One of the things that I found lacking in my photo education was something about how to run photography as a business -- probably because many of the teachers never did it as a business, or they did it so long ago that what they knew was no longer applicable. In undergrad at Ryerson in Toronto they had one 8-week night course ('Photography as a Small Business'), and it was an optional class -- think there were about 12 of us who took the class. Anyhow, one half of the course was taught by the manager of a local lab, and he showed us how to draw up a business plan...pretty boring stuff, but important nonetheless. The second half of the course was taught by a working photographer, and he showed us how to put a portfolio together, how to approach and attract new clients, how to price a job, how to organize your studio, etc. I tell you, I learned more in that 4 weeks, and it helped me in ways I can't even begin to measure. I know, not everyone who takes a photography course has designs on being a professional working photographer* (one of my fellow classmates ended up owning a well-respected photo gallery, for example) , but it would sure be nice to be able to offer that kind of experience to your students if you do in fact have the opportunity to teach at some point down the road.

*Regrettably, most of the 65 students in my undergrad class are likely not involved in any aspect of photography today -- I think I know of three who are somehow connected to the photo business. Don't know about my grad school class.
 
I don't know about photography, degrees, and job opportunities, but I do know that I wouldn't go into any significant amount of debt for a post-bachelor degree.
 
Not to be a smarta**, but if people want to help others, maybe going into the medical field or working in a soup kitchen are better ways to go. Photography, well, do you understand how few people make any real money in this field? And the ones that do, are you prepared to do weddings, portraits of kids, and work for clients (vs art photography)? I'm not, but that's just me. Photography is something I enjoy, and I'm good at it. For me, that's more than enough.
 
Well I feel terrible now.

I never expect to make money off of my photography. However people enjoy it a lot and want to take classes, and I am good at helping people with it because I am thorough and detailed.

If people in my classes are the measure I am against then I got to say I would be at the top of the list of people to be hired.

Luckily my undergrad degree has some serious merit. Art Education, and any other elementary through high school teacher degree, is starting to come into demand. There is actually an expected shortage approaching. Hence I am not putting all my eggs into one basket with hopes to teach at a University.

Roger even if you are right, why are you discriminating by age? You don't know anything about me except I like photography and I am not rich. Should I go kill myself because I am 25 and not developing a career already? Seriously? What the **** is with your comment?

Lastly there are scholarships out there, what for varies, but I know for a fact a lot of unclaimed money is out there.
 
Just to add some more thoughts.

About statistics about people who have art degrees and don't end up doing art, or 300 applicants for 1 job, etc.: It's not much better in other fields, certainly not in mine. If you are good and lucky, and work hard, you might get that job. If you are good and lucky and work hard, by the time it comes around to getting that job, you might also realize you don't want it. If you love it and want to spend the time doing it, go for it. I did (not in art though). What I would really stress though is to not go into too much debt. You don't want to be saddled with 10's of thousands in loans and stuck teaching adjunct classes for $3k a pop with no health insurance and no real prospect of getting a permanent position.

When my girlfriend at the time went to get her MFA, there wasn't much in the way of scholarship money to be had in her program. I distinctly remember her going to the program's 'financial aid' meeting and being told, 'take out a loan if you don't have the money.' My brother is just finishing up his MFA and got some help from the school he attends by way of being a teaching assistant and an award they give out to some second year students. It helps that he goes to a state school with lower tuition. It also helps that he already had teaching experience, so he was an obvious candidate for a teaching assistanceship.

My brother built up his portfolio to get into the school in the first place by getting a random job to pay the rent and buy necessary equipment and spending all of his spare time on making art.

There are grants for various art related activities, but I don't know how competitive they are, nor if they can really be applied to grad school. Of course, if you are looking for funding for community based activities and/or projects, and not for an MFA or similar degree, you might have some more options. If you have a good enough idea that might appeal to others, you might consider Kickstarter. Other options might be a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, or similar state wide or local organizations. You might also be able to find some private funding. If you have the right idea that might highlight some local cultural phenomena, you might be able to find a local organization who is willing to throw some cash at you.

Maybe the above is just a rambling mess, but it's a little unclear exactly what your goals are other than wanting to find some sort of funding for some photographic-related activity.
 
Field said:
Well I feel terrible now.

I never expect to make money off of my photography. However people enjoy it a lot and want to take classes, and I am good at helping people with it because I am thorough and detailed.

If people in my classes are the measure I am against then I got to say I would be at the top of the list of people to be hired.

Luckily my undergrad degree has some serious merit. Art Education, and any other elementary through high school teacher degree, is starting to come into demand. There is actually an expected shortage approaching. Hence I am not putting all my eggs into one basket with hopes to teach at a University.

Roger even if you are right, why are you discriminating by age? You don't know anything about me except I like photography and I am not rich. Should I go kill myself because I am 25 and not developing a career already? Seriously? What the **** is with your comment?

Lastly there are scholarships out there, what for varies, but I know for a fact a lot of unclaimed money is out there.
Click to expand...

Because you're 25 and still looking for someone else to bail you out. No, don't kill yourself. Go develop a career. Get out of school. Stop behaving like a dependent child. Do you know Vanessa Winship's work? When she was younger, she worked as a cinema usherette to fund her photography habit. Google her. To my amazement she's 51 now. She must have been in her 30s when I met her.

I've been a photographer, amateur and professional, for a long time. I've known a lot of people who earn a living from their photography, in all sorts of ways: hack-work, fine art, even teaching. Few have earned a fortune, though it's always a possibility But I don't know any who were still dependent at 25. I'd be even harder on you if you were 30.

As I said, it's a long time since I was 25. I could well be wrong. But if you don't want honest comments on your chances, don't ask for them. Chris said much the same as I did. He's younger than I, and more dependent on photography alone. Listen to him.

If you can get grants to do what you want to do, the very best of luck to you. But bear in mind that you are going to have to extract these grants from cynical old farts like me. If there is grant money swilling around unclaimed, ask yourself why this is. It might be that brilliant candidates are failing to claim it. Or, possibly, it might be that the people who are disbursing the grants are unwilling to hand it out to people who, in their opinion, won't really benefit from it.

Look at it this way: why are they going to give you a scholarship? Persuade us here that you have great ideas, and need the money to realize them, and many of us will support you as far as we can. But you have the question backwards. People are willing to listen to "I have this great idea, for which I need this money...", which is not the same as "Give me some of this money that is swilling around so that I can develop my great ideas."

Vanessa won the Prix HCB in 2011, 30,000 euros. It's a question of hanging in, paying your dues, and taking pictures. Not perpetuating the cycle of teaching the unemployable.

Sorry to be so harsh.

Cheers,

R.
 
One way you might build up your teaching experience would be to do 'continuing ed' night/weekend classes. I know that the community college near me is always looking for people to teach those classes. And -- if you were to design your own course, like historic printing techniques or something offbeat, I'm sure a community college/continuing ed place would be only too happy to let you run it. Another thought would be working at the Maine Photographic Workshops. If I think of any others, I'll post them here for you.

Don't know anything about grants though....sorry.
 
Tim Gray said:
Just to add some more thoughts.

About statistics about people who have art degrees and don't end up doing art, or 300 applicants for 1 job, etc.: It's not much better in other fields, certainly not in mine. If you are good and lucky, and work hard, you might get that job. If you are good and lucky and work hard, by the time it comes around to getting that job, you might also realize you don't want it. If you love it and want to spend the time doing it, go for it. I did (not in art though). What I would really stress though is to not go into too much debt. You don't want to be saddled with 10's of thousands in loans and stuck teaching adjunct classes for $3k a pop with no health insurance and no real prospect of getting a permanent position.

When my girlfriend at the time went to get her MFA, there wasn't much in the way of scholarship money to be had in her program. I distinctly remember her going to the program's 'financial aid' meeting and being told, 'take out a loan if you don't have the money.' My brother is just finishing up his MFA and got some help from the school he attends by way of being a teaching assistant and an award they give out to some second year students. It helps that he goes to a state school with lower tuition. It also helps that he already had teaching experience, so he was an obvious candidate for a teaching assistanceship.

My brother built up his portfolio to get into the school in the first place by getting a random job to pay the rent and buy necessary equipment and spending all of his spare time on making art.

There are grants for various art related activities, but I don't know how competitive they are, nor if they can really be applied to grad school. Of course, if you are looking for funding for community based activities and/or projects, and not for an MFA or similar degree, you might have some more options. If you have a good enough idea that might appeal to others, you might consider Kickstarter. Other options might be a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, or similar state wide or local organizations. You might also be able to find some private funding. If you have the right idea that might highlight some local cultural phenomena, you might be able to find a local organization who is willing to throw some cash at you.

Maybe the above is just a rambling mess, but it's a little unclear exactly what your goals are other than wanting to find some sort of funding for some photographic-related activity.
Click to expand...

That was my problem with both the original post and the most recent response. If the OP can tell us what he wants to do, and how, we may (or may not) be able to suggest routes. But "Were can I get a scholarship so I can Teach photography, darkroom, digital, all of it!" doesn't tell us much, when there are already plenty of people already qualified to do that.

Cheers,

R.
 
Funding is just to go towards accomplishing my undergrad degree. I could sign up independent study credits to bolster this.

In general though I will take any scholarship that helps pay for school and means less debt for me. I am certainly not interested in more debt since I have enough of it as happens to be already. (I go to school through financial aid) If I could start over perhaps I would not go to school at all, but no one time travels to replace their former self.

I really don't think anymore details are on topic. There are scholarships out there. I just am new at finding them.
 
Roger Hicks said:
That was my problem with both the original post and the most recent response. If the OP can tell us what he wants to do, and how, we may (or may not) be able to suggest routes. But "Were can I get a scholarship so I can Teach photography, darkroom, digital, all of it!" doesn't tell us much, when there are already plenty of people already qualified to do that.
Click to expand...

Maybe you should have said that instead of picking on him for his age 😀

Not to get too much into politics (which I think we should steer clear of since it won't accomplish much), but it is quite possible that things have changed a bit since you were 25. And probably since I was 25 as well (I'm 32). I know quite a number of hard working, intelligent, educated people who are dependent on their parents and others right now. I can enumerate them if you want. These people aren't schlubs in any sense of the term. Some of them are downright accomplished. They aren't acting like "dependent children" or looking for anyone to bail them out. They are just trying to make their own way and unable to gain the traction they need to do so.

I say cut the original poster some slack. This is a crummy time to be a 25 year old and trying to make a start for yourself.
 
I did not start photography a long time ago and am now suffering through accomplishing "it" through school. Besides what does different decades with entirely different rules of societal time lines have to do with me? I know my mother thinks having a job means you can all your bills and sometimes accept the fact you do not have enough money to do a lot but you can eat... Today it means you live on food stamps, food bank, and barely pay rent - in no association with over spending as you only buy second hand clothes on occasion to keep yourself societally appropriate.

The idea of getting job to fund it is nice, but while in school I only have time for the amount of work I already do. I have a job at the lab here so... other than that my extra time is taken by things like Flagship (art program with kids).

There seems to be some confusion as to what I am asking. Well I am going to remind everyone that the title of this topic is Scholarships. They are defined by allotted money to be award to students that apply for them and meet criteria. There are some that have very specific rules but how would I know what they are? How would I know if any projects I want to go forward with would apply, if I know not what they are?

I think some of you are confusing scholarships with artists grants. Scholarships are awarded to people for making progress, or for even just being in particular areas of study and applying at all.

This appears to be a mistake to post this here. The scrutiny is not friendly. People ask questions when they don't know.
 
We had a financial dept at university/college that had big books of scholarships that you could trawl through and apply to each one by writing stacks of letters off to the address mentioned under each scholarship. There where also copies of those books in the university library.

Might be worth asking around your college finance dept and scouring the library to see if they have such a thing?
 
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