Art Photography, BFA

Contacts

Laura Heyman, Department of Transmedia
102 Shaffer Art Building, 315-443-1033, lheyman@syr.edu

Faculty

Yasser Aggour, Doug DuBois, Laura Heyman, Susannah Sayler

Description

This B.F.A. degree program is designed for art students who wish to use photography as their primary creative medium. The program allows students to examine both traditional and contemporary aspects of fine art photography. Coursework provides thorough training in black-and-white, color, digital photography, and lighting. Special emphasis is placed on critique and the study of photographic history, criticism, and contemporary models. Work is encouraged in contemporary media, such as computer imaging, film, and video, as well as studies in art history and printmaking. Students who are interested in advertising and related fields often select electives in communications design.

Excellent facilities include black-and- white and color darkrooms. Digital facilities include: film scanners, archival inkjet printers and computers stations for image editing. Digital SLR’s, medium and large format film cameras, and an extensive array of lighting equipment are available for check out. A shooting studio is equipped for all formats of digital and analog photography.

Undergraduate students also benefit from the department’s close association with Light Work, a nonprofit organization on campus that sponsors and internationally renowned visiting artist program and exhibitions in the Robert B. Menschel Photography Gallery. In addition, the Department of Transmedia maintains its own gallery space for exhibitions and events, organized by graduate and undergraduate students.

Program Requirements

Major Requirements: 48 credits

Academic Requirements: 6 credits

Studies in Culture: 21 credits

3 credits must be in history of art

3 credits must be in history of photography

Courses classified as Studies in Culture are, in general, classes related to art history and cultural studies but also include Foreign Languages, Anthropology and World Literature. Please consult your academic advisor if you have any questions about a particular class.

Academic Electives: 30 credits

3 credits must be in critical theory of art

Academic electives are most courses offered outside of art, design, or transmedia (for example, courses offered in CRS, Arts and Sciences, Whitman, and other colleges outside of SU:VPA). These academic courses usually have non-art-related content, such as math, natural sciences, art history, anthropology, religion, gender studies, and writing, among others. Most importantly, they meet for a total of 150 to 160 minutes each week for the duration of the semester (usually on a two- or three-day pattern, such as MW, TTH, or MWF, with classes ranging from 50 to 80 minutes each.)

Studio Electives: 24 credits

APH 265 Beginning Seminar

3 credits must be in video course (VID prefix)

Studio electives are courses usually offered in VPA through art, design, or transmedia. The content of the courses directly relates to the preparation of students for professional careers in art, design, and transmedia. The course content includes, but is not limited to, conceptualization, process, product, and critique of creative work in studio practice. These courses meet for a much longer time, for a minimum of four hours per week for the duration of the semester. Usual meeting patterns are: the class meets once per week for four+ hours, or the class meets twice per week, usually for two or more hours each.

Course Catalog