further education, photography

im interested in taking up an MA program in photography or, even summer courses, as I am unable to

dedicate a few more years for a BA degree at the age of 30 :) can someone give me a few renowned

names of institutes/schools that i can look into. very much hoping to take courses in portraiture and

digital imaging. i have been told that the best school worldwide is Brooks Institute in California. Can

someone give me a few more names or programs, anywhere in the world is fine... thank you

anywhere in the world except for England i will add :) lived there for 6yrs and its time for a

change. took up a one year course at Central St. Martins in London that I was not very happy

with

i will add that i would be interested in either a one year program OR a summer program

I took courses at two of NYC's finest schools for the "Visual Arts". I learned next to nothing and all the "Professors" did was babble on about themselves and their portfolios.

 

If your lucky enough to have someone "adopt" you and teach you one on one - hands on, that is the best training you can get.

 

Forget these BS schools, spend the money on good lens and decent lighting instead.

thanks mitch for that. i felt the same when i took a course at Central St. Martins in london. what about for digital imaging, do you believe that is also about self-teaching? i have been seeing same amazing digital work and manipulation... and cant even imagine myself getting to that wtihout some courses... or perhaps it is just about grabbing a book and experimenting - thoughts?

Almost all masters of photography was autodidact. For example Capa, Cartier-Bresson, Riboud...etc

My nephew is a talented musician who attended the Berkley School of Music for a couple of years. He dropped out because of similar attitudes that you describe, Mitch. There must be something about "art school" professors. He's now living in Chicago, making a living as a jazz musician.

 

FWIW, he graduated from the High School for Performing and Visual Arts in Houston with Beyonce Knowles.

There's an awful lot of good stuff on the web. All you need are the right search terms.

Brooks is a good school but it is not what it used to be. There are some decent programs out

there. I have been hearing a lot good things about Boston College. There are three things

college will do for you. A good college program will give you a strong infrastructure in basic

photo skills to build your personal technique and style. The second thing is it can give you

real world experience with internship programs. Third a degree opens a lot of doors

especially in the corporate world, depending if you want to work for a company or be

independent. College for me was a big advantage in my field of photography. One of Brooks

grads is Arny Freytag, one of my favorites.

You could probably learn more about digital (Photoshop) at Lynda.com, its about $25. a month and has hundreds of lessons to choose from.

 

Having said that, don't get caught up in that PS - BS. Try your best to get everything 100% right in the camera and use PS just to tweak it a little and not rely on it to try to make a lousy shot - good.

I believe there are oppotunities for Post Grad study in Holland. Most Hollanders speak English

and I believe they are very welcoming. This information was given to me farily recently.

Here in Croatia we don't have so much to choose.

We have High school for Applied and Fine Art; University for Graphic Design; finaly an Academy.

 

We don't have anything in between such as College or certified courses.

It is sad situation.

I am a scenograph and designer from that high school, and having other certified informatics courses.

A am like you, also looking on the internet. So, I found On-Line distance learning at private Academy in San Francisco that can give you BA degree.

Check this: www.allartschools.com

I attended the Rochester Institute of Photography for my undergrad in Advertsing Photography. I don't know a great deal about the MA program, but I absolutely loved being a photo student at RIT. There were fantastci professors, equiptment, studios and other resourses that made my experience there so great. And there were around 900 photography students, each one passionate and willing to share and colaborate.

 

My favorite professor at RIT (Susan Lakin) went to Brookes for her undergrad. It is RIT's rival school on the West Coast, and I have heard great things about Brookes as well. They certainly have a better climate there, but if you don't mind snow, be sure to give RIT a look.