Academic qualifications in photography...

kelly1

Hello all,

just a question for anyone who's done courses in photography. I'm curious how it helps with the creative process? Which aspect of a course gives you the greatest inspiration? Is it the interesting challenges/assignments or learning from the work of master photographers?

Thanks,
Noel.

kelly1

Incredible, 50 views and no replies. Does this mean very few of the "boardsies" have a photographic education?

AnCatDubh

I think they would be in a very small minority.

Paddysnapper

I have, but it's such a silly question IMHO! Just get out there and do it! Why copy others style. Imagination is what you require first and foremost.....

magicbastarder

i suspect if sineadw gets a chance, she'll be able to put together a constructive response.

speaking personally, and from a position of complete ignorance, i suspect it depends on the course. do you want a technical course which will teach you the nitty gritty of using flash, etc., or do you want a course which will teach you things like critical appraisal and how to put together a body of work?

kelly1

Paddysnapper wrote: »

I have, but it's such a silly question IMHO! Just get out there and do it! Why copy others style. Imagination is what you require first and foremost.....

I don't think it's silly at all. Would a course not expose you a wide variety or work you might otherwise never had a chance to see.

Science for example builds on the work of previous generations of scientists (standing on the shoulders of giants). Does the same not apply to art?

I would also hope that it would help one's ability to think critically/objectively about composition etc.

kelly1

magicbastarder wrote: »

speaking personally, and from a position of complete ignorance, i suspect it depends on the course. do you want a technical course which will teach you the nitty gritty of using flash, etc., or do you want a course which will teach you things like critical appraisal and how to put together a body of work?

I'm talking about the latter. I think the technical stuff is learnt far easier than the ability to make an artistically appealing photograph.

sineadw

kelly1 wrote: »

Science for example builds on the work of previous generations of scientists (standing on the shoulders of giants). Does the same not apply to art?

Absolutely. I don't think you can separate research and work though. For me at least, looking at others' work and working on my own stuff are intrinsically linked. You're aways referencing work that came before you.

There are so many things from college that help. Lectures, crit sessions, bouncing ideas over a coffee.. my work is self directed these days, but I still have to write statements of intent and present coherently to the class. That makes sure I keep focus and impetus. Then there are the group trips - I'm off over to Liverpool for the Biennale on Tuesday, Sligo at the weekend and I'm (hopefully) back in New York in March for the Armory show. Ok I could do them on my own, but I probably wouldn't. And there are residencies and programmes in college you don't get elsewhere. For instance I participated in the Create learning dev programme last year that led to a show in The Lab, and hopefully next semester will be working on a joint venture with the physics dept in UCD on quantum field theory, and a seperate thing with colleges in the EU which wil lead to a show in Sweden and a residency in Latvia (fingers crossed..). It's only through college that you get so many chances like that.

kelly1

Thanks Sinead.

melekalikimaka

i also studied photography, pm any questions, more than happy to answer. I find the topic decends into silliness on here at the best of times