Studying Photography at a higher level

homerun_homer

I know there must be loads of topics on this so I apologise but I wanted to ask boardies opinions. Based on their own experience on which courses in Ireland / Dublin are worth doing in Photography. I’m thinking of leaving work and go study something I’m interested in and hopefully getting somewhere with that. I know places like Griffith college have a Diploma and BA in Photography but can anyone give me any feedback whether courses like this are good, easy/difficult, manageable, intensive and worthwhile in the end – ie. will you get work from it.

How good of a photographer do you need to be to get passed the selection/interview process to get into these types of courses?

Which courses are worth looking into and which should I avoid?

Anouilh

I have no personal experience of classes, but contacting various colleges and asking for information on what might suit you best should do the trick.


An example:
http://www.tcd.ie/langs-lits-cultures/postgraduate/textual_visual_studies/

Access to materials would be a priority.

Paulw

homerun_homer wrote: »

How good of a photographer do you need to be to get passed the selection/interview process to get into these types of courses?

Which courses are worth looking into and which should I avoid?

What is your end goal? What do you want to do with what you learn? What type of photography are you interested in?

melekalikimaka

I be in GCD doing degree, after doing diploma, you go into second year of degree after diploma, any questions fire away

Dodgykeeper

melekalikimaka wrote: »

I be in GCD doing degree, after doing diploma, you go into second year of degree after diploma, any questions fire away

Is this post also available in English?

trishw78

Dodgykeeper wrote: »

Is this post also available in English?

I can understand it fine please stay on topic.

melekalikimaka

Dodgykeeper wrote: »

Is this post also available in English?

i am currently studying the degree in gcd after completing the diploma, once you complete the diploma you go into seond year of the degree...

that simple enough? :rolleyes:

Dodgykeeper

trishw78 wrote: »

I can understand it fine please stay on topic.

I really am not interested whether you can understand it or not, I cant quite get a grasp of what he is saying and am seeking clarification, if Mele has stayed on topic then me asking him for clarification of his post is also on topic, thanks for your input!

Dodgykeeper

melekalikimaka wrote: »

i am currently studying the degree in gcd after completing the diploma, once you complete the diploma you go into seond year of the degree...

that simple enough? :rolleyes:

It is a bit clearer, how long is the Diploma? and indeed how long is the Degree!

Also you say after the Diploma you go into the second year of the degree is it possible to do away with the Diploma and just do the first year of the degree and progress from there.

What is the exact name of the degree course you are doing?

melekalikimaka

diploma is one year

degree is three

degree is ba in photographic media

the diploma is basically first year of the degree, same classes with same students, you can do the first year of the degree also, the only difference is a small business module at end and if your grades are up to standard you can continue into degree

Ricky91t

melekalikimaka wrote: »

i am currently studying the degree in gcd after completing the diploma, once you complete the diploma you go into seond year of the degree...

that simple enough? :rolleyes:

Is that the diploma is photography and the degree in Journalism?

Edit:Just read his reply before i submitted this

melekalikimaka

Ricky91t wrote: »

Is that the diploma is photography and the degree in Journalism?

no its a different degree, theres a small overlap in modules in history of art and photography but thats about it

homerun_homer

melekalikimaka wrote: »

I be in GCD doing degree, after doing diploma, you go into second year of degree after diploma, any questions fire away

I haven't applied for a prospectus, just browing the site(s).
I'm just wondering since this particular course begins in September, am I too late to be thinking about getting involved in the 2009 course?

What do you think of the course now that you are in the middle of doing it? Is it a good course, well taught etc?

melekalikimaka

homerun_homer wrote: »

I haven't applied for a prospectus, just browing the site(s).
I'm just wondering since this particular course begins in September, am I too late to be thinking about getting involved in the 2009 course?

What do you think of the course now that you are in the middle of doing it? Is it a good course, well taught etc?

give it a shot, say you'd be grand i thinks.

i love it, great facilities, well structured, excellent lecturers, found it slightly remedial at the start, but got very interesting after the first few months, focuses alot on film and darkroom first semester, which is really interesting. the time table on gcd site is grossly wrong, maybe half that is actually done, mostly expected to go solo on stuff with lecturers there for advice

-Chris-

Paulw wrote: »

What is your end goal? What do you want to do with what you learn? What type of photography are you interested in?

OP, you'd be well served answering this question first before you apply for courses (or ask for advice on what course to apply for).

unreggd

Hi OP, I posted some info about courses Here in the sticky

FYI, Griffiths College charge tuition fees

homerun_homer

-Chris- wrote: »

OP, you'd be well served answering this question first before you apply for courses (or ask for advice on what course to apply for).

A few years a ago I did a night course in photographic theory. It was a by the numbers introduction to what everything meant and using a darkroom etc.

At the minute I'm getting thoughts of possibly going and studying something I'm interested in, photography being probably top of the list. I've no game plan as to what I want the course to do for me. Obviously it would be great to become a professional and get work from it.

Paulw

homerun_homer wrote: »

Obviously it would be great to become a professional and get work from it.

It doesn't take a photography course to do that, just good experience and a good portfolio.

melekalikimaka

Paulw wrote: »

It doesn't take a photography course to do that, just good experience and a good portfolio.

if its something your interested in studying, it helps tho.

just a word of warning, you have to LOVE photography, it consumes your life studying, at times its 7 days a week between studio, darkroom, lectures

Fajitas!

homerun_homer wrote: »

A few years a ago I did a night course in photographic theory.

Fwiw, this wasn't photographic theory, it was a basic introduction to photography, photographic theory is looking at the evolution of photography, the why's and who's of photography, conceptuality within photography, contemporary photography and photographers, and where it'll be heading...

I don't know if they teach it in GCD.

It's not for everyone

melekalikimaka

Fajitas! wrote: »

I don't know if they teach it in GCD.

It's not for everyone

they do, in small doses

homerun_homer

Fajitas! wrote: »

Fwiw, this wasn't photographic theory, it was a basic introduction to photography, photographic theory is looking at the evolution of photography, the why's and who's of photography, conceptuality within photography, contemporary photography and photographers, and where it'll be heading...

I don't know if they teach it in GCD.

It's not for everyone

Slip of the tongue, oops. You knew what I meant anyway.

Fajitas!

No worries, was just mentioning in case you were going to put yourself in for a theory-heavy course, and ran away screaming

sineadw

I'm doing this course in tallaght - (hopefully! - the feckers still haven't got back to me...) going into third year in September. I'll be graduating with Photography and Multimedia. Obviously, its not as focussed completely on photography as it's a multi-disciplinary degree. For me though that suited me better than a pure photography degree. My plan is to teach adults (hopefully by the time I'm finished the Masters there'll actually be some jobs again) and work in multimedia and photography on a freelance basis. So a bad salary backed up with some extra work. Takes the pressure off working full time self employed, which for me is a huge bonus. Web design and authoring is a good field to be in at the moment with all the start-ups...

Just wanted to let you know there are other options out there..

Fajitas!

Sinead, would you not go for a hDip rather than an Ma if you want to end up in education?

sineadw

@Faj - haven't decided yet. All provisional on them NOT cutting the grants like outlined today anyway! But there's a Masters in TCD that I'd be very interested in - working in Human-Computer Interface Design. Not really explored the HDip route yet, but its not as necessary for adult education. OT - anything interesting you know about?

Fajitas!

Well there isn't much needed for adult education other than a degree/keen interest (unless you're talking about actually lecturing as opposed to CE), but an Ma won't prepare you for educating others compared to a hDip, as in the seemingly simple things such as course outlines, reports, class situations, etc.

Anything interesting? Jaysis, I know loads of interesting things...

sineadw

Interesting to yourself I have a half a JEB in General Teaching Principles so yeah I know how important it is to get a decent grasp on teaching. I also had teachers in college who demonstrated how little you need to know about that side of things to work there :rolleyes: We'll see...

@OP - sorry about the thread hi-jackery. AFAI can tell there are several routes you can take. It really does depend on what type of career you want though. You could do a fine art degree and specialise in photography if you're a very very creative type of person, but I think the jobs are few and far between unless you really make a name for yourself. Or you could do something more commercial and journalism oriented like Griffith College, but I think the jobs are few and far between unless you really make a name for yourself. That's the problem really - there are so many photographers out there (both qualified with bits of paper and not) that it's getting more and more difficult to make a decent career out of it. What you might want to try is talking to dept heads when colleges start up again in September? There are usually a few places left on a fair amount of courses so late registration is always a possibility. Or you could possibly do a portfolio course? I think they're a great way to get you into the frame of mind of a long-term commitment of college and they really can show you your individual strengths. There are quite a few available through VEC..

The last thing I'd do really is jump into a four year commitment of a course without really knowing what it entails or if its right for you.