Career change! Masters or Bachelors?

<p>I currently have a BFA in Graphic Design... and have been working in the industry for five years. Since childhood I have had a passion for photography. Taking pictures is exhilerating, and I constantly find myself stuck in a moment (on a daily basis) saying "oh that's a photo right there". After five years in a field that leaves me feeling unfullfilled, and as if this isn't my "true" calling, I am considering going back to school. I want to do something that contributes more to society, that gives back. After doing a lot of research and tapping into my talents and personality, photojournalism seems like a great area of photography for me.<br /> First of all, am I glorifying photography too much? What are the bad sides? I would LOVE if a photojournalist could post a normal weekly schedule of their job for me.<br /> That being said, I'm thinking about school. The question is.. Bachelors or Masters? I have always seen myself teaching one day (college level), so this is one reason why getting a Masters would be beneficial. I want some further technical help, but really want a program with a documentary trip, and other students that I could learn, work with and collaborate with. I don't want to be TOO independent in my studies, if I go with a Graduate program.<br /> Here are my current options:<strong></strong> <br /> <strong>Brooks Institute</strong> - Great option because I am currently in Los Angeles. School is perfect, minus not offering a Masters degree in PJ. They can advance me here and get me through the program in less than two years. It sounds very appealing, and maybe I shouldn't worry about my Masters until I KNOW I want to teach? I just know how time flies, and my energy will fade as well.<br /> <strong>UNC, Chapel Hill</strong> - Graduate program, documentary trip. Having a tough time getting much info on this school, but visiting next month. Any info on this school? Something is really drawing me towards this school as well. Apparently there are a few great newspapers in the area, which is an obvious benefit for PJs.<br /> <strong>Boston University</strong> - Graduate program<br /> <strong>University of Westminster, England</strong> - Graduate program<br /> Thanks!</p>

<p>Since you already have a BFA, I would skip getting another bachelor's degree.</p>

<p>If I were wanting to land a staff position at a newspaper, and I wanted to go back to school to get credentials that would help this, I would start by inviting a hiring manager at my local paper to lunch. "Hey, can I buy you lunch and talk to you about the industry? I'm thinking of going back to school, but would like your insight first." </p>

<p>With newspapers folding operations and laying off staff, I think now is a very challenging time to enter the field. Depending on the newspaper, "giving back to society" may mean spending much of your time covering meaningless grip n grin ceremonies (i.e. pictures that show people shaking hands and smiling for the camera).</p>

<p>Eric</p>

<p>If you really want to teach then a Masters will certainly help in that direction since public universities just love their teachers to have degrees. Brooks is OK for technical stuff but not for creativity. For that the Pasadena Art Institute ( <a href="http://www.artcenter.edu/accd/programs/undergraduate/photography.jsp">http://www.artcenter.edu/accd/programs/undergraduate/photography.jsp</a>) is considered one of the best, if not the best, in the country. But it's also very expensive, even more so than Brooks the last time I checked.</p>

<p>But having a successful career in photography is not just about education, which is really the easy part, it's more about self-promotion and aggressive hustling. I've heard many pros comment/complain that they spend more time marketing than shooting. And with newspapers folding left and right, making a living as a photojournalist is almost impossible today, especially as you're competing against everyone with a cell phone camera who is willing to give their pictures out for free just to see them published. </p>

<p>My suggestion would be for you to just go out and shoot and see what kind of photography you really love to do. If you find you really do love photojournalism after actually doing it for a while then stick with it. But if the late hours and dangerous locations like Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan and Russia, where noisy reporters/photojournalists tend to get assassinated, sound a bit too extreme for you then you might want to consider other photographic fields. Sorry if I sound too dramatic, but you did sort of ask for a reality check.</p>

<p>But there are plenty of other ways you can contribute to society. Many non-profits might appreciate you volunteering your photographic services to them. Admittedly volunteering doesn't pay the bills, but it can look good on a resume and it does satisfy your desire to contribute something back to society. And lots of advocacy groups use photographs very effectively, such a homeless, gay rights, abuse clinics, animal and nature groups, etc. So there are plenty of opportunities.</p>

<p>If you do love photography then stick with it, but also be realistic about your ability to make a living with it. Unfortunately for photography, as well as many other artistic fields, the old adage about not quitting your day job holds true for it as well.</p>

<p>I think Mike has some excellent advice. An additional thought is that some MFA Photo programs may well require you to do "remedial" work to bring you up to speed to a BFA Photo equivalent.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>it's more about self-promotion and aggressive hustling.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>This is true for any self-employment, and it's true for most self-employed photographers. There are photography jobs that do not require any self-promotion and aggressive hustling. It's disappointing to see everyone told they require certain personality characteristics to have a job in photography, as if everyone is a freelancer.</p>

<p>Ann,<br>

I wasn't sure if you primarily want to be a photojournalist (and do you mean a news photographer or documentarian?), a teacher, or both. While you can most certainly do both, your school choice might be affected by your primary career wish.</p>

<p>I'll start with teaching-more definable options here.</p>

<p>There is no way of knowing how good a teacher you will be until you do it a little while. You have the desire to teach-that is the first part, but a big part of teaching is learning how to work with a variety of people in order to facilitate learning. Until you are in that situation, you don't know if you can adapt. As a graphic designer it is like when you show some comps to a client and you see that they aren't too excited with your work. If you can make changes that will please them you have that kind of flexibility to go beyond your personal style and comfort zone and you have a good chance of doing this with teaching. Being able to "wing it" is a huge plus here. Some people say that you should inquire at a community center or adult learning center to teach classes there, but you need some technical photo education before you do this. There is nothing more unfair to the students if the teacher doesn't know their subject. (My aunt had a teacher for digital photography that obviously didn't know about the subject-now she isn't as excited about taking photos because she is so confused now.)</p>

<p>If you want to teach at a 4 year college, you generally need what is considered to be the "terminal degree". In art fields this is the MFA. This is NOT a requirement, that decision is up to the school, but with the competition for jobs you would be at a huge disadvantage without one. Some community colleges only need a Bachelor's or MA degree. Photojournalism is a small part of many college photo programs so there aren't many schools just hiring PJ instructors, instead they have the photo instructor teach the classes-for better or worse.</p>

<p>The problem with an MFA program for you is that they generally don't emphasize the technical part of photography. They want you to get that part of your education in the BA/BFA. The purpose of the MFA is to work on the artist not the craftsperson. While some programs will allow, or even encourage, you to explore technical aspects of photography, that isn't the emphasis of the school. Remember that MFA is Master of Fine Arts.</p>

<p>You can apply to a program that offers an MA in photography or art with photography as an emphasis and transfer to an MFA program. I took this route because I had a background in commercial photography, but no college art classes. My feels was that no MFA program worth the time would accept me with such a glaring shortage of art education. You have a BFA so this may not be as much of an issue, but, based on your posting you seem to be lacking a photo education. I ended up taking the delinquent classes in art while working on my MA. You would have to take the photo classes in this manner. An advantage of an MA program is that they may more willing to work with you to modify their program to fit your needs/experiences. You can also possibly TA/teach during this time to see how you like it.</p>

<p>If you are going to teach photography, it is extremely important to have a strong foundation in both film and digital photography. This might have a strong bearing on where you go to school. I know a lot of professors who say that technical knowledge isn't that important to the art of photography. That's true, but it is extremely important to the craft of photography. For this reason, I would strongly consider a strong community college program or a BFA. Just make sure that you find out if your previous credits can apply to the program. 5 years isn't very long ago, so you just might need a minimal number of classes outside the photo program. Also, in order to have the strongest Curriculum Vitae, you need to have as much of the skills as possible.</p>

<p>If your primary goal is to be a photojournalist, the options can range from "get out and shoot" to go to an extremely intensive photo school, to anywhere in between. The people who buy and hire don't care about your background, they care about your images and how well they tell the story. Unfortunately, the path you choose depends on your learning style, ambition, financial situation, etc. In other words, what works great for one person could be the worst choice for another. There have been great success stories and horrible failures in all approaches.</p>

<p>Other school options to look into:</p>

<p>CS San Bernardino. One of the strongest photo programs on the west coast. Many people outside the photo education field don't know about it but the head of the department, Sant Khalsa has built the program up to be extremely strong in documentary photography (her speciality) and also in the technical aspects of photography. They offer an MFA in photography-many professors/instructors, especially on the west coast, got their MFA from this school.<br>

CS Fullerton and San Jose State. Not quite as strong with the documentary, but two of the best all around photo schools in California. Good technical instruction and emphasis on concept/intent. They both offer MFAs</p>

<p>Orange Coast College in Santa Ana. HUGE endowment (for a community college) allows them to have some of the best instructors and equipment. They offer a range of classes from film/darkroom to digital, documentary to studio.</p>

<p>Santa Monica College. Long time respected community college. This is a feeder school for Art Center and Brooks because students leave this program with a strong set of technical skills</p>

<p>Mike,</p>

<p>While you make some good points, your comment about Brooks is without merit. First, the MFA program is not about technical. Students need to take a test, which is basically the lower division comprehensive final and undergo a portfolio review which will influence their enrollment status. Students are expected to have a solid technical skill/knowledge set before entering the program. Also, even if you were referring to the undergraduate program, the current curriculum emphasizes technical education in the lower division and emphasizes content while expecting technical skills in the upper division. Brooks, in evaluating their program realized that they were training assistants extremely well, but not working photographers. So they added creativity and the business aspects of photography to the upper division curriculum.</p>

<p>From 2002 to 2008 I taught there. In one of my classes, ADV311, creativity was the primary emphasis of the class. This was the upper division introduction class and most of the other upper division classes built on this.</p>

<p>Ann, that said, I'm not sure if Brooks' MFA is the program for you. Your needs don't seem to fit well with their strengths. The VJ program would be a better fit, because it is the field you are interested in and has some great professional connections/opportunities. But, unless you live in the west SFV, I wouldn't commute.</p>

<p>Thank you all so much for taking the time to answer. You have all been very helpful! I really wanted to hear the nitty gritty reality of it all.. which you gave me. I know it involves travel and dangerous situations, along with starting out in more uneventful scenarios. Like any job, I'm sure you have to work your way up and prove yourself. I am not one to settle and accept being a bottom feeder. Although hearing the truth about newspapers folding and KNOWING that this economy is in the dumps right now... leaving my job is not a smart thing to do right now. Going back to school probably isn't the best choice either. I really like Mike's advice... and part of my gut has been saying all along that I just need to start shooting more often. Getting involved in non-profit and volunteer groups would be a wonderful idea. Coming up with my own documentaries for fun isn't a bad idea either. Try it out for a bit... if it feels right, continue. Being a teacher is something I see myself doing in 20 years, but who really knows. SO I should figure that out when and if the time comes. As a current artist I know that it can be a tough living unless you surrender to the world of marketing and advertising. Unfortunately it isn't the most fullfilling way to make a living, but if I involve myself in more fullfilling things on the side, maybe I will be happier! Or start freelancing in graphic design and doing a little of both.<br>

I'm going to continue researching schools, and in the meantime.. take more photos and look into non-profit/volunteer groups!<br>

John, what VJ program were you referring to.. in SFV?<br>

Thanks!</p>

<p>Ann,</p>

<p>Brooks calls their photojournalism program Visual Journalism because they emphasize both still and video journalism. It is located at the Ventura campus.</p>

<p>John</p>

<p>John, my knowledge of Brooks come from several friends of mine who graduated from there in the 1990s, one with the MFA, and all have told me essentially the same thing, that Brooks was very strong on technical info and short on the fine art aspect. In fact my friend with their MFA said that they train you to just basically be photographic assistants and in retrospect thinks he would have been better off if he had spent the money on equipment instead and taught himself. But this was a good 15-20 years ago and if Brooks has changed for the better since then, that's great.</p>