university photography worth it ?

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taffy047

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Alex james
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Im currenct studying A level photography and i love it ! :) i want to make it as a photographer the subjects i enjoy taking pictures are of action ! so my fav are football rugby and downhill/ skate park ! :) i also would like to get into wedding photography i did at work experience and i really enjoyed it :)


so my question is it it really worth me going to do or a course at uni or would it be better for me to teach my self from internet videos and get more work experience ! ?


thanks alex
 
I'd be interested to hear what others have to say about this too. Have thought about it myself if it will help me progress, but not sure I can justify the expense (spesh now fees are capped at £9000 per year!)
 
Depends, I have a photography friend who'd swear that to be a photographer you don't need university. I also have another friend who is taking photography at university and he hasn't regretted a thing. If you do go to university you'll learn to think about it and pick up some legal stuff that you'd never pick up from work experience. Also you would come out at the end with a portfolio. Don't forget that a degree is better than no degree when apply for any job.

And finally everyone has a great time at university.
 
I would say no! I believe that most arts (music, painting etc...) are things you do not need to study for in the same way as Maths or English. Yes, a course would help and cover different angles and give a structure, but many people do a degree and in 10 years find it is pointless. I would pursue a 'useful' degree which will help you get a job almost regardless or career (i.e. business studies, english, sciences) and spend spare time learning and practicing.
 
cambsno said:
I would say no! I believe that most arts (music, painting etc...) are things you do not need to study for in the same way as Maths or English. Yes, a course would help and cover different angles and give a structure, but many people do a degree and in 10 years find it is pointless. I would pursue a 'useful' degree which will help you get a job almost regardless or career (i.e. business studies, english, sciences) and spend spare time learning and practicing.
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I can't speak for Photography, but in terms of either Music or Art (either Fine or Illustrative) studying for a degree or diploma is most definitely recommended when intending to pursue that field. You wont find many professional musicians in this country that haven't been to the RAM, RCM or equivalent and the same pretty much applies to full time artists.
 
Most if not all successful musicians to my knowledge have not got qualifications. Didnt hinder the Beatles!!! My point was possibly not made clearly, but if you wan to be a doctor, you MUST have a relevant degree. If you want to become a pro tog or artist, you do not need one although you will learn lots from one. Many members on here could go to an interview for a tog job and has every chance of beating a tog graduate to the job.

Problem with a Photography degree, is that it is very specific and probably of little use if you choose not to make this your career.
 
I have done an HND in Photography which has now led onto me being in third year of BA Photography. To be honest, the only reason I'm still studying is because at the end of HND I had the option of doing 1 more year's study to get a BA out of it.

So far I have not been taught anything about how a camera works that I didn't already know.
I have however picked up some useful tips at demo days I've had access to as a student or from classmates.

We have done nothing that would touch on being useful knowledge for someone who wanted to be a sports (or in my case a press) photographer ie the day to day technicalities of freelancing, finding work, image captioning and transfer practices and technology, how you sell images ie through agencies or direct to publications etc.

We have been taught how to use studio and location lighting equipment that would maybe have relevance in the wedding industry but it's very rarely that it was actually related to anything as commercial as that.

Also, we have not had a single lesson that had anything to do with wedding photography on even the most basic level, something I find really strange considering the wedding sector must be one of the largest sources of employment and income within photography and how many of my classmates who's only paid work so far has been wedding work.

What has been useful though is that having briefs to work to has had me out there using my camera, racking up tons of experience and getting feedback on images which if I had tried to do myself I would never have been motivated enough for and would be equivalent to decades of spending "spare time learning and practicing."
 
DemiLion said:
I can't speak for Photography, but in terms of either Music or Art (either Fine or Illustrative) studying for a degree or diploma is most definitely recommended when intending to pursue that field. You wont find many professional musicians in this country that haven't been to the RAM, RCM or equivalent and the same pretty much applies to full time artists.
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cambsno said:
Most if not all successful musicians to my knowledge have not got qualifications. Didnt hinder the Beatles!!! My point was possibly not made clearly, but if you wan to be a doctor, you MUST have a relevant degree. If you want to become a pro tog or artist, you do not need one although you will learn lots from one. Many members on here could go to an interview for a tog job and has every chance of beating a tog graduate to the job.

Problem with a Photography degree, is that it is very specific and probably of little use if you choose not to make this your career.
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Ask any press photographer - and I have asked quite a few - what is the best route to take to get to where they are and I guarantee not one of them will say, "Go and get a degree."
Infact every one of them that I spoke to and told I was doing an HND told me to leave the course and just get out and work.
I'm sure the same would go for sports togs and probably wedding togs too.
 
if you got the opportunity go for it. It's something I've thought about it and I know if I ever get the option I'll got for it
 
cambsno said:
Most if not all successful musicians to my knowledge have not got qualifications. Didnt hinder the Beatles!!! My point was possibly not made clearly, but if you wan to be a doctor, you MUST have a relevant degree. If you want to become a pro tog or artist, you do not need one although you will learn lots from one. Many members on here could go to an interview for a tog job and has every chance of beating a tog graduate to the job.

Problem with a Photography degree, is that it is very specific and probably of little use if you choose not to make this your career.
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I completely agree with your point in regard to requirement versus benefit, and as for the musicians I was referring to the ones that have to graft to make a living (ie the classical ones), as opposed to those that make (or make their managers) a fortune! :p :D

I don't really know that many professional photographers, but the couple of staffers that I do know came up via the apprenticeship route; but that angle's pretty much closed now.
 
I highly recommend going to University, but maybe not for a photography degree! Move away from home, have fun and broaden your horizons. Do a course that'll give you proper transferable skills (eg business, science) and use all the copious spare time you'll have to hone your photography.

Despite the public perception of students, if you do it right you'll come out far more capable of facing the world :)
 
thank you so much for every ones ! replies :) going to have another read then thinking time ! :D
 
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