School of Visual Arts

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PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography is about seeing. The Photography area of the School of Visual Arts at Penn State is about teaching students to see, to enable them to become sensitive to the interplay of light and the elements of photographic vision. This area provides students the opportunity to gain the photographic skills necessary for the creative investigation into their personal as well as a larger worldview. A camera does not capture reality -- it filters it according to the vision of the person behind the lens. Everyone has a different vision. It's the job of the accomplished Photography faculty to provide students the creative educational environment to realize that vision so they can go forth and produce great work, either in the photography career field, for personal enjoyment, or simply to realize the essential role photography plays in our world culture.

The 200-250 students who take photography courses each year have access to top-notch facilities, in both the old-school (silver halide) and new-school (digital) methods of producing images. A fully equipped silver halide lab includes both black-and-white and color enlargers, allowing students enrolled in film-based courses to learn the finer points of printing. A Digital Photography Studio, established in 1997 and supported by industry leaders Calumet Photographic Inc., Megavision Inc., and the Eastman Kodak Company, allows students to work with the most sophisticated, leading-edge digital studio camera technology available. The Digital Photography Studio encourages students to explore both the fundamentals of the professional studio and the larger role of technology in the arts.

The undergraduate degree programs are all designed to help students acquire a thorough liberal education in addition to superior professional training. At the graduate level, the Master of Fine Arts degree program in Photography offers students the opportunity to continue their personal development as creative photographers.

The School of Visual Arts at Penn State offers a B.A. and a B.F.A. degree in the area of Photography. Please see detailed descriptions of the two degree programs under Degrees Offered. The B.F.A. degree requires a portfolio review for placement.

Visit our Web site at http://www.psu.edu/photography for more information about the program.


FACULTY
Lonnie Graham
Ken Graves
Keith Shapiro

COURSES