What can I expect if I get a photography degree.

[nonuniform]

I've thought about this question many times, wondering if I should have done something differently with my college education.

In the end, I have realized that my undergraduate college education didn't matter. What I learned in 4 years was a methodology to learn new things. I studied history, economics, and art. I ended up with an art degree in photography.

I worked for a while in photography in NYC in the 80's, and the money flowed pretty well really. It really came down to luck, persistence and skill. My first month in the city, I took a night class at SVA lighting, met a guy that needed an assistant, then met another guy, that started giving me his overflow clients. It was great. I worked 2 days a week and paid my bills and had plenty of time for making my own art. Note, I live really really cheaply, and had no debt. (thanks dad).

I got bored, moved into film/tv, then the web came along, and 18 years later I'm this quasi-creative director, program manager, designer guy that gets paid a nice wage and has flexible hours.

I still take photos.

I think NYC taught me more about life, and myself than anything else.

One thing I can say, looking back, is I always followed my interests. If I was getting bored, or starting to slack, it was time to move on.

Being in the right place and time helped too. And the fact that I taught myself C programming in the 80's, and when the web came along, people needed someone, anyone, that could design and code.

All of that can be attributed to the fact that I did the things that caught my interest, and I fully commit myself to whatever I'm doing. No half measures.

 

[Roberto V.]

I don't want to fill the thread with responses to every single post, but I want you guys to know that I really appreciate every post. I especially want to thank kuzano, Nick, Roger, Frank and rxmd.
Car design it is. I already know what kind of positions I can expect to start out in, and I've had some great advice from some great designers and friends. Photography is an expensive hobby, so I'd better get a good job to support my habit (god damn expensive Leicas 😛).
Again, thanks to everyone.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[jsrockit]

but someone who smites his brow and says, "I am an ARTIST! You do not UNDERSTAND!" and then goes on to study photography at Bug Tussle University will have a harder furrow to plough.

Cheers,

R.

That would be me in my younger years, but I have a good (some would say great) job now with my BFA from Bug Tussle. 😱

 

[Jamie123]

Photography is an expensive hobby, so I'd better get a good job to support my habit (god damn expensive Leicas 😛).

One thing to keep in mind is that just because you don't get a degree in photography doesn't mean you have to keep it as a hobby. If you later decide you want to pursue a career in photography that's still an option. There are quite a few designers who turned into photographers and they just carry their visual sensibilities over to a different medium.

The reason I say this is because I think the difference between doing something as a hobby and doing it professionally is more than doing it for free vs. getting paid. It's also about doing it for your own enjoyment and entertainment vs. doing it for it to be seen by a public.

 

[rxmd]

I guess because apart from whatever knowledge you've gained during training, the degree helps in documenting to strangers that you were willing and capable to commit to something halfway rigorous for a few years. . . . The degree basically certifies that at some point I've been capable of doing all that with some kind of result.

First clip: Which could equally be the case had you shown yourself willing and able at work.

Second clip: Otherwise know as a track record.

I'm not anti-education for education's sake. I'm just not convinced that even a first degree should be essential for the sake of getting a job.

I guess you can't generalize that beyond looking at individual jobs. A photographer shouldn't need a degree. A brain surgeon probably should, or at least I'd examine his track record very carefully if he didn't have one. But that's trivial.

A track record and a degree isn't the same. A track record may be worth more, but also less. I believe, for example, that a PhD says more about someone's ability to organize themselves, to think at high levels of abstraction, and to use that to work on problems rigorously and in detail for a few years, than the same amount of time put into a day job would. But the number of jobs for which I'd require applicants to have a PhD is pretty low, and for most of them I'd want them to also have a track record anyway.

As a rule of thumb, don't get a degree to work in a field where you can work without that degree, too. (Or where, at least, the relative ease of finding a job depends on other things than whether you have a degree.) Photography is one such field, so a photography degree probably isn't worth getting.

Car design, on the other hand, is another story - mechanical engineering or ergonomics or safety mostly aren't areas of knowledge that you pick up just like that on the street for your track record, so a degree here seems a better idea.

 

[Mr_Toad]

.

After multiple degrees, here is my silly career advice to college-bound kids...

1. Go to hair stylist school in Santa Monica, CA.
2. Get a lousy job sweeping floors and washing hair for tips in some trendy Beverly Hills salon.
3. Make friends with as many customers as you can, since they will eventually become your clients.
4. Expect to starve for two years, until you finally get a chair IN that trendy Beverly Hills salon.
5. Tend bar at night, thereby meeting people who will let you cut their hair.
6. Live the highlife, with neither burdensome school debt, nor the brains to feel guilty about any of it.

I know this works, since I used to get my hair cut at Mickey Rourke's salon on Canon Boulevard.

🙂

Robt.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I guess you can't generalize that beyond looking at individual jobs. A photographer shouldn't need a degree. A brain surgeon probably should, or at least I'd examine his track record very carefully if he didn't have one. But that's trivial.

A track record and a degree isn't the same. A track record may be worth more, but also less. I believe, for example, that a PhD says more about someone's ability to organize themselves, to think at high levels of abstraction, and to use that to work on problems rigorously and in detail for a few years, than the same amount of time put into a day job would. But the number of jobs for which I'd require applicants to have a PhD is pretty low, and for most of them I'd want them to also have a track record anyway.

As a rule of thumb, don't get a degree to work in a field where you can work without that degree, too. (Or where, at least, the relative ease of finding a job depends on other things than whether you have a degree.) Photography is one such field, so a photography degree probably isn't worth getting.

Car design, on the other hand, is another story - mechanical engineering or ergonomics or safety mostly aren't areas of knowledge that you pick up just like that on the street for your track record, so a degree here seems a better idea.

I could not agree more.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Roger Hicks]

That would be me in my younger years, but I have a good (some would say great) job now with my BFA from Bug Tussle. 😱

After ploughing a hard furrow...

But you are of course quite right. All I complain about is pseudo-degrees, taken as a passport to a job that doesn't need one.

Cheers,

R.

 

[emraphoto]

some input.

there is some very helpful information already here. some of it is a little difficult to find amidst all the information.

no matter what you read on the interwebs or hear from salty old photojournalists bemoaning the bloated past, you can make a living from assignment/editorial work. i do it and i have many friends that also do.

i currently lecture at a few schools in their respective photo programs. i can offer a few thoughts on the matter. few, if any, of the schools teach the most important skill you need to move forward. motivation. degree, no degree, super talented etc. none of it holds a candle to motivation.

does this mean i endorse a degree in photography or forgetting it all together? neither. if you can afford to acquire one (a degree in photography) then do it. you will quickly learn about the 'line on the CV'. we all buy them in the beginning.

i have posted a few times about a 'secret handshake' to get started. i won't post again but anyone with interest can email me and i will help out the best i can. i will say motivation needs to be your most important consideration. if you don't have 5 years of relentless, 7 days a week, motivation just to break into things in you then you need to consider a second career path.

media contacts
moving your market outside of North America
a mind for business
languages
a specialized interest or knowledge base
a deep love
a deep passion
follow your heart

these are all very important parts of a big puzzle. write them down.