Posted on April 15, 2010.
Art Institute of Utah it's worth their high school and is it necessary to become a great photographer? My daughter is wanting to go into debt to get an extreme degree from the Art Institute in Utah. She has already had a ton of success on its own as a photographer, but he believes that this measure is necessary to continue his career. Please provide any information that will help to understand the pro and cons of taking this type of student loan (30K per year / 3 degrees per year). And provide any information you have on the success rate of photographers after receiving this type of degree.
short answer is that a diploma is neither sufficient nor necessary to succeed as a photographer. Almost all of us are freelancers and it is simply one of the criteria Photo - Can you still produce images that your customers want to pay for? If you can, and you can deal with the fact that you're in the business of producing photographs to meet the needs, wants and desires that are often not yours, you're good to go. A portfolio useually more than one, to show what you can do a lot of noise and will pay the bills. It's really that simple.
The question is what you get for your $ 90,000 over three years? In a place like Brooks, who is probably the best know, you have a broad vision across a range of types of photography. You should get some kind of personal attention and help you shape as a photographer. It is the mutual support and cross fertilization of ideas that just being with other students in photography. You get the information in the form of criticism to date of your work and, perhaps more importantly, you have a structured and focused, supportive environment. That said, however, there are people who, through desire and passion, can stay focused and motivated to learn the same thing just as well and so quickly on their own. For them, the fees could be better spent.
In the real world, nobody ever asked me or any other pro I know, where we learned to do what we do. At least, not something more than curiosity. It is an establishment, or shut up, profession. Ask any pro exercise where they learned and you can get the name of a school, or they have learned by themselves. This is the short answer then you will go far.
What I learned by myself, learned to Fhotoace Brooks. If we were to sit down and conversation came to "Where have you learned ..." we speak of post basic education and the stuff coming out of the real world.
What moves you forward in a career picture? Knowledge, skills, desire, will and determination. A formal education is an expensive purchase 2 of 5.
Vance
