Program type:

Major
Format:

On Campus
Est. time to complete:

4 years
Credit Hours:

120
Get a clearer picture of your future.
Through lens-based processes, students are immersed in their creative, professional, technical and intellectual growth in order to engage in complex, rich and multifaceted approaches to image-making. As you graduate, you will have been empowered to develop a personal voice, a professional and creative practice, self-discipline, and cultural awareness.

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Why Earn a Studio Art Degree with a Concentration in Photography?

Our students are supported by accomplished active faculty and staff as well as a multitude of opportunities to interact with internationally acclaimed visiting artists who provide a wide range of views and approaches throughout the course of study.

You will learn

  • Digital imaging
  • Video technology
  • Professional lighting
  • Traditional black-and-white photography
  • Alternative processes
  • Photography exhibitions

Supplementing the classroom and studio experience, students are connected to excellent post-graduation creative and professional opportunities through our strong network of award-winning alumni. Graduates of the B.F.A. program work as artists, commercial photographers, and arts professionals in organizations in Dallas and across the nation. During their time at UNT, students engage with their peers and the DFW community with an active photography student organization.

While in the program students are immersed in genres and mediums spanning historic processes, black and white, digital imaging, mixed media, web technology, installation and video.

Students leave the program empowered through the development of professional and creative practice, self-discipline, cultural awareness and a personal voice.

Marketable Skills
  • Creative thinking
  • Adapting techniques
  • Autonomous working
  • Oral and written communication
  • Multiple approach assessment

Studio Art Degree with a Concentration in Photography Highlights

Internships with area galleries and photographers are available if you want to earn academic credit through work experience.
UNT's close proximity to Dallas and Fort Worth provides you a wealth of resources such as renowned art museums and galleries.
Our college's resources include large format digital printers, state-of-the-art computer labs, a lighting studio and black-and-white, color and alternative processes wet labs.
Opportunities to exhibit your work in on-campus galleries exist through a juried application process.
To provide additional insights and knowledge, we invite numerous renowned artists, designers and scholars to campus for special lectures and events.
Our faculty members are accomplished artists and scholars whose work has been exhibited in museums and biennials both nationally and internationally, and their scholarship has been recognized with Fulbright and Guggenheim Fellowships.

What Can You Do With a Studio Art Degree with a Concentration in Photography?

Education – continues higher education in a photography graduate program. Instructs private lessons or public workshops and classes at colleges, universities, local arts organizations, museums, galleries, community centers, artist residencies, or studios.

Fine Artist – sells and creates artistic photographs for gallery exhibitions or individuals.

Commercial Photography Work – includes positions in the following photographic specialties.

  • Advertising and marketing
  • Aerial
  • Commercial and industrial
  • Drone
  • Fashion
  • Marine
  • Medical
  • News
  • Newspaper photojournalism
  • Portrait
  • School
  • Scientific
  • Travel
  • Wedding

Other Areas – archiving, image retouching and editing, photo restoration, lighting assistant or darkroom assistant.

Employment of photographers is projected to grow 17 percent from 2020 to 2030, much faster than the average for all occupations. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Studio Art Degree with a Concentration in Photography Courses You Could Take

Beginning Photography: Photo I (3 hrs)
Beginning photographic materials, techniques, software and digital cameras. Assignments, lectures, demonstrations and critiques expose students to the necessary tools for creative image making and expression using photography. Students will gain technical competencies with DSLR cameras, Adobe Lightroom, and Inkjet printing.
Beginning Photography: Photo II (3 hrs)
Continued development with photographic materials, techniques, software and digital cameras. Assignments, lectures, demonstrations and critiques advance student understanding of the necessary tools for creative image making and expression using photography. Students will advance technical competencies with DSLR cameras, Adobe Lightroom, and Inkjet printing.
Intermediate Photography: Darkroom Photography (3 hrs)
Film-based photography, exposure, and darkroom printing. Through assignments, lectures, demonstrations and critiques students gain competency in analog photography, archival darkroom printing and film-based photography in relationship to contemporary art and photographic practices.
Intermediate Photography: Photography, Sound and the Moving Image (3 hrs)
Examination and practice with the intersection between still and moving images and explores the possibilities beyond conventional modes of photographic practice. Through assignments, lectures, demonstrations and critiques students gain competencies in video capture using a DSLR camera, audio capture, and video and audio editing software. Assignments and instruction will cover a wide range of approaches to video including narrative, non-narrative and installation.
Intermediate Photography: Field Photography (3 hrs)
Students use photography to examine and build an understanding of place. Students use photography to interpret, analyze, and criticize specific locations. Students consider the efficacy of art making in projecting solutions, taking activist stances and creating a new understanding of their surroundings.
History of Photography (3 hrs)
Survey of the history of photography, including developments in photographic technologies, practices, theory and analysis.

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