Considering earning an MFA in Photography

[Dr. no]

A MFA is more of a license to "pontificate" in a University environment, that's all. It doesn't necessarily equate to actual proficiency as a photographer or artist - it's more about following some P-correct artsy trend or whatever, in order to fit in somewhere in a relatively ossified academic peck order.

That’s my impression, the kind of ridiculous talk about “interrogating the art object” and the inevitable slide into derision of anything older than last year as a product of a patriarchal colonizer. But that seems to be the academic art climate these days, degrees in art have always been about commenting on other people’s art, not making it, but now seem to almost exclusively be about gender studies as well. And the only person I know who got tenure recently in anything art-related (theater) works very peripherally to that field but is very good at grants and publishing.

And to disabuse the ideas of some of you out there, tenure only exists just enough these days to dangle as a carrot, and after bringing in revenue to your school (and threatening to take it elsewhere) not like when it was the result of staying in place long enough.

If you want to actually teach photography and not derision, the more likely jobs are in high school and community college as well as larger campuses, but likely part-time unless you have additional subjects. Many see it as an adjunct to their own actual art-producing career. A masters is likely required but an MA in a close enough field is probably good enough—and programs are much more prevalent/affordable.

And these people I mentioned are in your community, Fort Worth. You have an excellent CV so far, good hustle for your location! Looks like you are making excellent connections. But don’t expect an MFA to be a meal ticket to a career in being an artist or teaching artists.

 

[warden]

degrees in art have always been about commenting on other people’s art, not making it, but now seem to almost exclusively be about gender studies as well.

That's nonsense. Come on.

And the only person I know who got tenure recently in anything art-related (theater) works very peripherally to that field but is very good at grants and publishing.

Well that's one person, doing it one way. I know people with tenure and on tenure track in the arts with no grants and no publishing (aside from PhD thesis for those with PhD). Many universities have a more holistic approach to granting tenure, which I agree is becoming rare and may not be worth the effort for some. You can be of service to a university in many other ways while earning tenure, and having an active professional practice is a good one.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I'll just add that the most prominent teacher in the nearby University Art & Photog program was a "starving artist" for quite awhile after receiving his own MFA. Still had to painstakingly work his way up the ladder of acceptance outside the academic circle. Nodody other than himself and his own wife showed up to his first serious gallery venue. When my wife was studying at UC, she was shocked one day to find one of her young professors dumpster diving behind the popular nearby pizza joint. A teaching position isn't necessarily a full-time opportunity, especially outside of those fields considered a lot more important these days.

 

[Arthurwg]

.... degrees in art have always been about commenting on other people’s art, not making i

I don't think that's true. Studio classes in art and photography really are about making, not "commenting". Yes, ideas are scrutinized, but technique is also emphasised and the final product critiqued. What was your experience?

 

[Pieter12]

I don't think that's true. Studio classes in art and photography really are about making, not "commenting". Yes, ideas are scrutinized, but technique is also emphasised and the final product critiqued. What was your experience?

I can only moment fromm what I know as my daughter has a graduate degree in art. Graduate programs are more geared toward individual, independent study and mentoring. There is less group-critique and more refining existing work. At the graduate level, it is taken for granted that technique has been mastered, maybe the exploration of experimental or cutting-edge hybrid techniques.

 

[DREW WILEY]

It probably differs venue to venue, depending on who's running the show. Many academic environments are very top-down, expecting everyone to buy into the philosophy of whoever is at the top at the time. A lot of pretentious posing certainly goes on in the big U here; Graduate work often looks academically driven, as if trying to please a narrow school of thought. But that's nothing new. And then there are those herds of "artistes" who all try so hard to be different that they all end up looking and speaking the same. That's a cookie cutter, not an education.

 

[Tel]

As the culture of higher ed has changed, and money has become scarcer, the popular hire has become the "adjunct professor" construct that just means part-time without benefits. Originally started as a means to draw in professionals in certain disciplines to enhance the curriculum, it has become a means to cut back on full-time faculty without reducing the course offerings. When I began my third and final career as a college prof in 1987, I joined a department with twelve fulltime tenured or tenure-track positions. The same department now has five such positions, with no reduction in enrollment. It may be significant that the institution had three vice-president positions back then, and now has ten.

 

[Tel]

I don't think that's true. Studio classes in art and photography really are about making, not "commenting". Yes, ideas are scrutinized, but technique is also emphasised and the final product critiqued. What was your experience?

In the best-case scenarios, this is true. I was fortunate to have done an MFA in one of the best programs in the country in my chosen field. (I studied production design and lighting for theatre.) There was a lot of depth to the faculty, professionally practiced faculty members and very small class sizes. My graduate design seminars were taught by people who'd worked in New York, LA and elsewhere professionally and typically had less than ten students per class. The work load was heavy and we were subjected to "juries" (reviews of our work every semester by the faculty in our areas of specialization). There were no grades; instead we got informed critiques of the work we'd done and constructive recommendations on how we could improve. After 30 years teaching in a much less well-endowed college I came to realise just how fortunate I had been.

 

[koraks]

But that seems to be the academic art climate these days, degrees in art have always been about commenting on other people’s art, not making it

Most criticism of academia likewise seems to be targeted at academia, not being part of it or contributing it.

L'enfer, c'est lest autres.

Also, I think it's kind of obvious that academic institutions related to art are not about creating art as such. The latter is not an academic exercise; I'd go so far as to say it's antithetic.

That horse consisting of "can one comment on something one doesn't engage in" has been beaten to a pulp many times over. There's nothing to be found in that pursuit but a particularly low-grade, nasty vinegar.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

In the best-case scenarios, this is true. I was fortunate to have done an MFA in one of the best programs in the country in my chosen field. (I studied production design and lighting for theatre.) There was a lot of depth to the faculty, professionally practiced faculty members and very small class sizes. My graduate design seminars were taught by people who'd worked in New York, LA and elsewhere professionally and typically had less than ten students per class. The work load was heavy and we were subjected to "juries" (reviews of our work every semester by the faculty in our areas of specialization). There were no grades; instead we got informed critiques of the work we'd done and constructive recommendations on how we could improve. After 30 years teaching in a much less well-endowed college I came to realise just how fortunate I had been.

I;ve been to couple of Broadway shows lately in NYC. The lighting is much more advanced as to how it used to be. More complicated and apparantly computer program driven to coordinate with the acting. I suppose LED lighting has added to the creativity as well.

 

[moofy]

For once I feel like I have a relevant position to add things from. I did a photography MA from 2020 to 2022 (yes the pandemic really helped there) and I have mixed feelings about them.

I studied in the UK so it’s probably not completely analogous to the US system but the main taught portion of the course was firmly in art history and practical parts dealt with realising a specific project.

Almost none of it was practical instruction though there was some as a basis/refresher which the two Chinese students on the course found, perplexing. I don’t think they had ever been in a dark room before which was an interesting comparison to the UK/EU students who all specifically wanted to shoot film and print on paper.

If you want to teach some kind of relevant academic experience seems to be absolutely required now, one of my lecturers even had a PhD which seems to be becoming much more common. I know that’s a European malaise however and that an MFA in the US seems to be the stopping point.

Probably the best part of the degree for me was the ability to be in close proximity to other talented people who were making photographic images. I learnt a lot from (though I wish I had more) talking to people in the dark rooms, sharing studios and the occasional times we could actually have a shared crit in person. If you don’t have the time to spend just being around people and working with them I’m not sure I would say the whole process would be worth it to me.

Being at university is very much a good way to make friends and possibly eventually contacts but you will also have to be very pro-active in searching out people that you find interesting. Ask them questions or even if they would be willing to give talks. Any university should do this but they never do it enough and it will be up to you to invite people to the end show. I cannot overstate how important having a good show and having the right people come to it is if that is the kind of path you’d eventually like to pursue.

I wouldn’t do it expecting much if any financial return, it certainly hasn’t helped me there at all. It almost certainly won’t help you if you want to work in the commercial field, other than honing your abilities and giving you some background and time specifically to think about the work that came before. I have no dependents save for my cat so I don’t have any particularly expensive outgoings other than increasingly eccentric photographic ones. If I did I probably would be pursuing something else.

 

[ic-racer]

When I got my MFA, the emphasis was on artistic development, though there were quite a few Art History requirements. I did not have any required classes in Education, though my contract involved teaching introductory art classes to non-Art majors.