Areas Of Study » Undergraduate Studies » Photography

Undergraduate Photography Studies

General Overview

The Photography program is an integral part of the Painting and Printmaking emphasis. Our mission is to prepare students for graduate level study and for real world conditions facing the professional fine artist.

We offer beginning through advanced silver-gelatine, black and white, and color classes. Our philosophy and practice define the photographic processes as fine art media, and concern only the vocation of the fine artist. Prerequisites for entrance into the photo area include all Art foundation drawing and design classes. Beginning painting and printmaking classes are also encouraged as being useful for entering photo students.

One may concentrate in photo, printmaking, or painting as an upper division student with electives drawn from any other areas in the department (digital media, sculpture, furniture, etc). We offer training in silver-gelatin-based processes and negative based color photo. We also encourage interdisciplinary work involving photography used in conjunction with other art media. It is not uncommon for advanced projects to incorporate photo in sculptural and installation-based works.

Coursework Overview

Undergraduate Photography at SDSU is taught as a fine art medium. We stress good technique as essential, but content and concept are utimately the deciding factors in evaulating the student's work.

We offer beginning, intermediate and advanced levels of black and white silver-based photography courses as well as color photo (C-41) at the intermediate and advanced levels. Some classes overlap, so there is a consistent feedback loop of information between beginning and advanced students.

Photo students are required to complete the same basic core courses as all other art students, i.e. beginning and intermediate drawing and design before entering the Photography program.

For more information on the degree requirements for the Photography sub-concentration, please download the undergraduate Painting and Printmaking emphasis checklist.

Admissions and Financial Assistance

You can learn more detailed information about the admissions process on the Undergraduate Admissions page. For more information on financial assistance, please visit our Financial Aid page or our student scholarships page to find scholarships available through the School of Art, Design, and Art History.

Facilities

Read detailed information on our facilities on the PhotographyFacilities page, where you can also link to other interdisciplinary facilities within the School of Art, Design, and Art History.

You can also read more about local art material supplier resources on our Art Supplies page, as well as learn more about our library research facilities by visiting SDSU's Love Library website(external link).

The Faculty

To contact or learn more about individual faculty in this department, please refer to the Photography department directory listing.

This page was last updated at 4:57PM on July 10, 2008