Art Degrees Online

The Photography and Video program at Montserrat is more diverse and dynamic than ever before. The program immerses students in photo studies, time based/video, and traditional 2D photographic media. Because of the critical and technological environment of photographic studies, we require students to take a sequence of courses, which support a broad range of approaches and imaging applications. Students complete their studies with the production of a comprehensive body of work that demonstrates fluency in contemporary photographic media language.

The Photography and Video department offers a full range of classes from traditional photographic processes to digital and electronic media forms. From the onset, courses engage students with the potential of the expanded media environment that now includes still, video, sound, and multimedia forms of expression. Progressive course offerings also provide for a range of technical and conceptual points of departure and aesthetic investigations. Yet in the department, the basic tenets and vocabulary of photographic imaging endures. Using film or flash ram, still or video imaging systems, with or without sound we are still looking through the lens of a camera. Issues of representation, the construction of content and meaning, the communication of ideas, and the dissemination of information continue to be integral components of the photographic dialogue.

The Photography and Video department’s facilities and technology support all course offerings. Our darkroom handles formats ranging from 35mm to 4×5″ negatives. Our shooting studio is equipped with strobes and continuous light systems, computer and archiving stations, and proofing devices. Our digital labs utilize Macintosh computers along with the most current editing software. Students also use professional digital cameras, flatbed scanners, high-resolution film scanners, archiving hardware, media converters, a 44″ wide-format archival inkjet printer, small format archival inkjet printers and color and black and white proofing devices. Still and video cameras, tripods, portable lighting kits, and other equipment are available for students for in-class and off-campus work.

The Photography and Video program at Montserrat is more diverse and dynamic than ever before. The program immerses students in photo studies, time based/video, and traditional 2D photographic media. Because of the critical and technological environment of photographic studies, we require students to take a sequence of courses, which support a broad range of approaches and imaging applications. Students complete their studies with the production of a comprehensive body of work that demonstrates fluency in contemporary photographic media language.

The Photography and Video department offers a full range of classes from traditional photographic processes to digital and electronic media forms. From the onset, courses engage students with the potential of the expanded media environment that now includes still, video, sound, and multimedia forms of expression. Progressive course offerings also provide for a range of technical and conceptual points of departure and aesthetic investigations. Yet in the department, the basic tenets and vocabulary of photographic imaging endures. Using film or flash ram, still or video imaging systems, with or without sound we are still looking through the lens of a camera. Issues of representation, the construction of content and meaning, the communication of ideas, and the dissemination of information continue to be integral components of the photographic dialogue.

The Photography and Video department’s facilities and technology support all course offerings. Our darkroom handles formats ranging from 35mm to 4×5″ negatives. Our shooting studio is equipped with strobes and continuous light systems, computer and archiving stations, and proofing devices. Our digital labs utilize Macintosh computers along with the most current editing software. Students also use professional digital cameras, flatbed scanners, high-resolution film scanners, archiving hardware, media converters, a 44″ wide-format archival inkjet printer, small format archival inkjet printers and color and black and white proofing devices. Still and video cameras, tripods, portable lighting kits, and other equipment are available for students for in-class and off-campus work.

SVA is a photography school in New York City whose mission is to educate students who aspire to become professional artists. Undergraduate photography school students have access to SVA’s cutting-edge facilities, as well as our 100-plus faculty of photographers, museum directors, critics, art directors, photo editors, and photography collectors. Request information at admissions@sva.edu to learn more about SVA’s photography college.
In the past decade, the line between commercial and art photography has all but disappeared. A highly personalized look, no matter how quirky, can open doors to both galleries and big-ticket ad campaign assignments. Risk-taking is now a practical career strategy for photographers, just ask former SVA guest lecturers David LaChappelle and Josef Astor. There is no need for compromise anymore.

That is very good news for SVA students, or anyone with something to say who uses a camera to say it. SVA is all about the cultivation of a self-expressed sensibility, a signature style. We do it by providing the absolute highest standard in photographic equipment and technology, and a course of instruction that teaches you to transcend the wizardry of all that gear with the power of your message. It’s not the $4,000 Leica M6 camera that counts, but the mind behind it.

We recently gutted and renovated the photo department, adding new studios, darkrooms, and digital labs, and acquiring Canon D30 digital cameras, Omega D-5 enlargers and the newest Hasselblad systems. In addition to ongoing updates in technology and equipment, we are continually adding new instructors to the faculty and new electives to the curriculum. These changes offer students the widest and richest possible exposure to ideas, influences, and sources of inspiration.

Our 100-plus faculty includes not only photographers, but museum directors, critics, art directors, photo editors, and photography collectors. They are chosen not only for their expertise, their accomplishments, and their industry clout, but also for their generosity and sense of humor. Access to this world-class talent pool is a simple matter of asking the right expert for your specific project need.

Fourth-year students may be assigned a mentor to critique their work, and can make networking suggestions to effect an otherwise out-of-reach introduction. The mentors are powerful industry players, like the editor of Artforum, the creative director of The New Yorker, and the photography critic of the The Village Voice, who recognize the caliber of talent at SVA and want to provide entr?e to career-bound students.

Developing an identity as a photographer starts in your first year, and takes surprising forms. As your eye sharpens through technical practice, you will also hone an ability to think about the photographic arts through writing exercises.

Writing critically about the craft and your own work allows you to clarify and articulate your intentions. In the fourth year, you write a statement about your thesis project. This is a challenging, time-consuming process of reckoning with your work, and a chance to discover your voice. It is a deeper recognition of who you are as an artist.

You may focus on fashion, landscape, figurative, or social documentary photography during your time here. Your studio practice can range from the pinhole to the pixel, or combine both. You will generate hundreds, even thousands, of pictures by the time you graduate. They will all boil down to the most important image you’ll take away from SVA: Your self-portrait.