BFA Photography

Overview of our BFA in Photography

Our three-year Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography is for highly motivated students who would like to enter an intensive hands-on professional course of study. By completing their Bachelor's degree in three-years, students:

• Save one year of expenses.
• Begin working on their craft sooner.

The Academy makes this accelerated schedule possible by creating an extended academic year, allowing students to complete three full-length semesters in each calendar year.



"" The New York Film Academy Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Photography program provides candidates with a thorough grounding in the fields of commercial, fine art, and documentary photography.

Undergraduates in the photography degree program are immersed in all aspects of photographic study. Throughout their eight semesters enrolled at the school, students take a series of academically rigorous classes that seek to challenge students creatively while giving them the skills they need to create technical photographic work.

Students' creativity is carefully and constantly nurtured as they are encouraged to find and develop their own unique visual language and vocabulary through a process of investigation, critique, creative conceptualizing, self-reflection, and practice.

By the end of this program, students will be thoroughly equipped not only with the creative and technical skills, but also with business acumen. The advantage of New York Film Academy’s commitment to a rounded education is that our photography BFA students will graduate with a broad knowledge base that will help them successfully navigate photography and related fields.

The first two semesters of the BFA Photography program are foundational; students then have the freedom to choose classes best suited for them in semesters three through eight. The BFA Photography program culminates in a final portfolio presentation and group exhibition which invited peers and industry professionals attend. This event is an opportunity for students to exhibit their best work and to develop their professional network.

PHOTOGRAPHY BFA PROGRAM: LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Students will demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of available and artificial light, and apply this to their images.
• Students will demonstrate mastery of Lightroom as an organizational tool and Photoshop as a nondestructive editing tool.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of lighting tools and digital and analog camera systems.
• Students will demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of digital output systems.
• Students will demonstrate an applied understanding of the visual language of photography and the ability to incorporate technical, formal, and conceptual competencies in their creative work.
• Students will demonstrate working knowledge of industry standard business practices in commercial, fine art, and documentary disciplines.
• Students will demonstrate professional skills and practices appropriate to their area of interest.
• Students will demonstrate their knowledge of and relate their work to the technological, artistic, social, and cultural currents within the history of photography and contemporary photographic practice.
• Students will identify their area of personal interest and then conceptualize and complete self-directed projects that culminate in a cohesive body of work for printed, online, or exhibition presentations.
• Students will demonstrate their ability to produce photographic work that is consistent with high professional standards.
• Students will articulate in verbal and written form the key technical, formal, and conceptual issues in their creative work and the work of others.

Students in Semesters Three - Eight choose classes within several categories of study, with distinctive learning outcomes:

Lighting learning outcomes:

• Make well-composed and well-lit photographs using DSLRs and fixed and zoom lenses.
• Evaluate the components of exposure by comparing and contrasting aperture ranges, shutter speeds, lenses, lighting tools, and filtration options on a wide variety of subjects.
• Recognize the characteristics of light and make creative use of lighting tools, perspective, and environments.
• Pre-visualize an image and realize it through lighting and photographic techniques.

Imaging/Printing learning outcomes:

• Apply advanced digital darkroom skills using Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom.
• Output accurate color and density prints to inkjet printers.
• Manipulate tone and color through Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and Capture One to accurately create a specific aesthetic.
• Investigate the role that photographic materials, processes, and techniques play in the pursuit of photography as a creative medium.
• Utilize Adobe Lightroom as a file management, workflow processing, and resolution tool.

Business/Marketing learning outcomes:

• Produce business and marketing plans appropriate to current business practices in the professional photography industry.
• Identify and apply best business practices for their chosen genre.
• Examine and apply elements of successful branding and marketing.
• Demonstrate innovative entrepreneurial and networking skills.
• Prepare relevant marketing plans and branding to reach their targeted professional audience.
• Apply advanced technical skills, creative vision, and personal aesthetic to their final portfolios and exhibition.

Theory/History learning outcomes:

• Apply advanced theories of aesthetics, semiotics, design, composition, and color.
• Analyze theoretical history of photography texts and apply them to their work and the work of others.
• Demonstrate critical thinking skills in evaluating a diverse range of historical and contemporary art works.
• Examine and discuss the work of seminal visual artists from the 20th and 21st centuries.
• Investigate current trends and key technical, formal, and conceptual issues in photography, and articulate these in verbal and written form.
• Apply technological, artistic, social, and cultural currents from the history of photography and contemporary photographic practice, and be able to relate their work to photographic history and practice.

Art Practice learning outcomes:

• Analyze the effect visual media has on the way contemporary society reads images.
• Identify key technical, formal, and conceptual issues in their creative work and the work of others, and articulate these in verbal and written form.
• Develop an authentic voice and style.
• Write a 5 - 10 page research paper that meets high expectations and supports their thesis project.
• Plan and design their final thesis exhibition, including the sequencing, sizing, and printing of images, using mounting, framing, and/or hanging techniques, with awareness of contemporary exhibition protocols.