Should You Study Photography at College/University? An Honest Discussion

Should you study photography at university/college? This is an honest discussion, featuring some key points, pros and cons, and overall personal subjective opinions that might allow you to make a more informed decision on your education pathways. I’m just about to graduate with my Bachelor's of Photography so I have a fair opinion on this topic and have some valid arguments on why you may or may not decide to study photography at university or college. I will also be speaking from an Australian University perspective which is different from the American college system, which in my opinion I think is a lot better, but a lot of the points can be applied I’m sure. I hope this gives you a better idea of whether studying photography at university or college is a good idea for you.

Intro: 0:00
My background: 0:30
Time to develop: 1:22
Making Connections: 2:10
What do you learn?: 2:51
Teaching staff: 5:45
WIP critiques sessions: 6:37
What photographer do you want to be?: 7:28
Job opportunities: 8:30
Financial side of things: 9:10
Access to resources: 9:29
Pros & Cons Summary: 10:05
Outro: 10:38

So first things first, you don’t need to study photography in order to be a photographer. I think that’s been proved time and time again so I thought I would just get that out of the way first. But in saying that, studying photography full time will allow you to give it more a lot more attention which will inevitably improve your skills as a photographer.

So this leads me to my next point which is meeting like-minded people. I personally believe this is the most important reason to study photography for the present but also for the future. It’s worth mentioning that it’s definitely doable in the outside world but it’s definitely a lot harder and requires a lot more reaching out. So in my case, the course is quite small so it’s a lot easier to create meaningful relationships with others that will hopefully last a lifetime.

So I guess one of the questions I had when I was finishing high school and looking to study photography is what would we learn? Is it more technical or theory-driven? And three years in, I can confidently say that the technical knowledge side of things is pretty poor at least in the bachelor’s degree. I’ve heard that the Diploma is more suited towards the hands-on side but even then I am a little skeptical. There are so many things that should be covered, but what i’ve found is we learn these textbook ways of doing things that aren’t even relevant to anything in the industry. And I can see the frustration of the teachers who actually want to teach something useful but they’re held back by the limitations and criteria of the university for whatever reason.

So if you want to do project-work, then this is where studying will have a major benefit. So every semester, you work on a photo project and it’s pretty much up to you on what you want to do. And then each week you present your WIP to the class and teachers and gain feedback which is super useful. From here you’ll be able to take some of that on board and look into other photographers who work in a similar field that might help inspire you in your work. I think this practice is super helpful and one that is a lot harder to find elsewhere. There are obviously portfolio reviews out there in which you might have to pay for, but having these weekly-feedback sessions can be super valuable if you are working on something large scale.

So in summary, the pros are you’ll meet people, create a support group that is great for feedback and critiques, it’s fairly affordable compared to most other degrees, having access to resources. And the cons, the technical side sometimes lacks, very little business talk which might be a pro for some, and sometimes the teaching staff won’t be super inspiring.

So I hope that gives you a better idea of whether studying photography at university or college is a good idea for you.

My Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/bendroege_

My Website:
https://www.bendroege.com

Cheers!

Видео Should You Study Photography at College/University? An Honest Discussion канала Ben Droege