Visual Arts, Photography Concentration, BA

Students with a photography concentration will demonstrate a mastery in the following six areas:

Technical command of the photographic medium. Students should be able to make confident, informed decisions regarding composition, exposure and print quality using both film-based and digital imaging technology.
Command of the skills necessary to evoke their personal visions.
Heightened visual literacy. Students should learn to read photographs and develop the ability to discern meaning from photographs.
Heightened visual sensibility. Students should learn to see both with their eyes and their cameras and make astute compositional decisions in their photographs.
Knowledge of the history of the photographic medium and how it relates to the history of the other fine arts.
Fluent knowledge of the vocabulary of photographic aesthetics. Through their photographs, critiques, and written evaluations, students should demonstrate an ability to articulate their intentions about their own work and criticisms about the work of others using objective terminology.

Requirements for the Major

Requirements for the major and an example of a typical program of courses are as follows:

Visual arts majors with a photography concentration take AH 111 , PT 270 , PT 300 or PT 301 , PT 319 , PT 400 , SA 224 , one additional 300 or 400-level art history course, and seven additional photography courses 300-level or above.
Interdisciplinary visual arts majors with a photography concentration take AH 111 , PT 270 , PT 300 or PT 301 , PT 319 , PT 400 , and three additional upper-division photography courses.
Visual arts students with a photography concentration are strongly encouraged to take computer science to fulfill one of the math/science core requirements.
Visual arts students with a photography concentration are strongly encouraged to take Philosophical Perspectives: Art and Imagination (PL 220 ) to fulfill their upper-division Philosophy core requirement.
Visual arts students with a photography concentration are strongly encouraged to take Media Ethics (PL 316 ) to fulfill their ethics core requirement.
Students interested in photojournalism should declare a visual arts major with a photography concentration and a communication minor, or a communication major with a journalism specialization and a photography minor.
Students must complete the diversity core requirement through a designated diversity core, major, or elective course (see Diversity Core Requirement under Curriculum and Policies).