Art Degrees Online

The Digital Media major is designed to develop an equal command of three main areas of the visual media: photography, film, and the computer. This prepares today’s media specialist to work with digital as well as conventional photographic, video, and motion picture tools and applications. The Digital Media major is aimed at the photographer who may work in the areas of digital imaging, web page design, multimedia, and digital post-production for video and motion picture production. Comprised of a year of photography, a year of video and film work, and a year of digital application, photographers armed with these skills are sought after for their versatility and technical expertise.

Every photograph is a comment on contemporary culture. Exploring that comment is a primary focus of MECA’s photography program. Aesthetics, technique, and composition are discussed primarily in context of what the image communicates. The program, of course, isn’t all discussion. Students begin by using film and making black and white prints in a traditional darkroom. Guided by a faculty whose interests range from landscape photography to digital book arts and video, they proceed to courses in digital, color, large-format, lighting, and professional practices. But in all courses, the focus is on the content of individual photographs — and the photographer’s intent.

Taking it beyond the holiday snap and using your camera to capture and comment on the world around you forms the foundations for this inspirational course.

Aiming to inform and enable you to create photographs for news reportage, documentary and photoessays, our degree will give you the skills you need to become an adaptable and confident photographer.

The course blends practice, critical analysis, theoretical studies and self-reflection to develop your professionalism and an informed appreciation of photography.

Creating photographs to tell stories about our world, everyday life and the unusual, you’ll learn how to communicate effectively through images and master the power of photography to provide insight. You’ll also learn about the business of photography, such as how to promote and protect your photographs.

You will explore professional practice through valuable work experience opportunities and be encouraged to develop your own individual style. At the end of the course you will be able to work independently, utilising film and digital technology appropriately, and should be well placed to meet the challenge of working in this exciting area of photography and the media.

How will the Photgraphy minor enhance my degree?
The photography minor is designed to give you experience with a range of camera formats – from a 35mm format up to a 4×5 studio view camera, including digital capture. The minor will help you gain experience in a wide range of pictorial photographic applications.

What does the minor emphasize?
The Photography minor stresses a fine art approach to photography. It provides the basics of black-and-white as well as color photography and digital imaging. The courses help you to find your inner voice as a photographer.

What kind of photgraphy courses are included in the minor?
Studio courses are technically rigorous, with extensive use of professional photographic tools and equipment. Advanced-level classes concentrate on creative and conceptual approaches to the photographic medium, and help to develop your own personal responses to photographic projects and assignments.

about the evolving creative position of the photographer today. The program provides a rigorous technical training marked by conceptual and critical thinking about photography’s place in the global art and design world. Graduates enter the photographic industry fully prepared to be leaders in a rapidly changing work environment. The department also hosts visiting artists throughout the year.

Degrees Offered:
BFA

Number of Students:
260

This program is designed to provide graduates with sufficient training to qualify for entry-level positions including commercial and portrait studio assistant, technical sales representative, retail sales clerk, management trainee, freelance photographer, and processing technician. Completion of the program will also be beneficial to those planning to major in such areas as communications, public relations, graphic arts, fine arts or journalism. Working professionals seeking to upgrade current skills as well as those interested in personal enrichment will also find this program to be beneficial.

Whether working as an applied or fine artist, the successful photographer is one who can find the most appropriate blend of a developed aesthetic and the science and technology of image-making to produce a legible personal statement. The Photography Program at Marywood offers a strong foundation in the technical skills required of the photographer. Traditional media are stressed, while developments in digital imaging are embraced. Fluency in the medium is enriched and expanded by the study of aesthetics and art/photographic history, as well as through class discussions and critiques, which emphasize the development of the voice of the individual as artist. The relationship of photography to other disciplines, such as illustration and graphic design, is explored in projects involving both areas of study. Marywood’s flexible program is designed to meet the individual needs of the aspiring photographic professional.

Photography is both a concentration option in the BFA degree program and an option as a minor through the Department of Art and Design. The minor primarily enhances employment opportunities for graduates with degrees in communication studies, art, fine art, and the design areas. The skills utilized by a photographer can also be an asset to anyone who needs to communicate visually.

A photographer’s growth is the product of the simultaneous development of three interdependent factors. The first is the conscious or intuitive understanding of the visual language of photography—that is, how the world is translated into a photograph and how a photograph orders a segment of the world in the space and time that it shows. This is a photograph’s grammar. The second factor is the acquisition of technique. Without a technical foundation there is no possibility of expression; the broader the foundation, the greater the scope of expression. This is a photograph’s vocabulary. The third factor is the photographer’s work on his or her self. This entails overcoming visual and psychological preconceptions and conditioning, deepening and clarifying perceptions, opening emotions, and finding passions. This is a photograph’s content. The Photography Program instructs students in this three-part process and provides a historical and aesthetic framework for their development.