Photography, B.F.A.

Foundation Year (Art School)

All first-year students are required to complete the foundation program. It consists of multiple courses taken in tandem. These courses are designed to introduce the students to fundamental processes and principles of artmaking. The objective of the program is to develop the student’s perceptions, sensitivity and technical skills.

The typical first-year schedule is as follows:

Second Year of Study (Art School)

In the second year, students are required to select courses from a variety of studio offerings. The intent of the second year is to introduce specific media skills and processes in depth, and to provide a broad range of artistic experiences for the student prior to the declaration of the major. During the second year, students are required to select one 3-credit course, not in their intended major, from each of the following categories:

1. ceramics or sculpture
2. painting/drawing, or visual communication design
3. photography or media arts
4. printmaking or illustration

The remaining 12 credits of studio course work in the second year are elective. Students who have determined a major area of study are encouraged to use these elective studios to begin fulfilling the requirements of the major. Students who have not determined a major are encouraged to distribute these electives among different media.

Second-year students intending to major in visual communication design or illustration should consult with those departments prior to choosing studio electives in the second year.

In addition, students in the second year are required to elect at least one academic course each semester in order to maintain a reasonable completion rate of academic requirements.

Required credits: 30

(Taken in photography and cognate areas as required by the department)

A two-semester course in photography introduces the student to the proper use of the film-based camera, basic darkroom techniques for developing black-and-white photography, and an overview of the history and aesthetics of photography.

Intermediate courses refine darkroom techniques and introduce special concerns, including color photography, color processing, the fabricated photograph, digital photography, and other aesthetic issues. Special-topics courses in lighting, experimental processes, professional practices, and large-format photography are available.

At the advanced level, students work on independent projects dealing with such issues as the narrative format, technical experimentation, light as a visual phenomenon, and the like.