The Photography Program takes a broad-based approach, engaging students in the most contemporary practices, as well as in the traditions and historical structures from which those practices have evolved.
The curriculum provides a technical foundation in analog and digital imaging alike and introduces the critical skills and theoretical insights necessary for students to manifest their creative visions. Our faculty—all professional artists—represents a diverse range of styles and approaches to the medium. Students graduate with the skills necessary to pursue careers as exhibiting artists and to work in most photography-related professions.
The program’s facilities enable work in black-and-white, color, and alternative processes on large and small scales alike. The facilities on the Oakland campus are staffed more than 90 hours a week and include two large black-and-white darkrooms, 12 individual darkrooms for color printing, a 42-inch RA 4 color processor, Photography Program–specific high-end digital workstations, a black-and-white- and color-compatible mural darkroom, an alternative-processes lab, a dedicated lighting studio, and much more.
Cameras and equipment are available to advanced students for off-campus use. Other resources include a gallery for student exhibitions, guest lectures by emerging and high-profile photographers alike, and a visiting-artist program.
Students pursue internships with photography studios, museums, galleries, major newspapers and magazines, and film production companies. Many alumni have become professional photographers, and several have been included in such national exhibitions as the Whitney Biennial. Our graduates typically enter top-tier graduate programs.