The path to success in photography, formal education or not?

[Kirk Gittings]

As a photo teacher, I run into young photographers who really shouldn't pursue a formal education for various reasons. I'm open to all paths. I'm curious to know more detail about your path to being a successful photographer. How did you get into it and then make the leap to making a living at it?

We have a great faculty at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design with very diverse backgrounds: http://santafeuniversity.edu/academi...raphy/faculty/. This is actually my favorite group of colleagues that I have ever had the pleasure of teaching with (with the exception of the same group plus our former chair, Mary Anne Redding who left recently to pursue her real love-curating).

[Jac@stafford.net]

If a person is an autodidact, he had best have a very good and critical instructor.

[Kirk Gittings]

.....agreed

[mdarnton]

I worked in a photo studio, starting very early, then went to college and got a degree not involving photography, then because a photographer. Subsequently and later, I skipped violin making school, got jobs in a series of shops, and now have my own. I have NEVER felt that the college was a waste of time, however. It always gave me an edge over the competition in so many ways not directly relating to having a resume'; it's about having a certain way of approaching things that's more effective for having the additional education. As one co-worker, long after I'd been to college, so accurately put it: "you college guys always get what you want". The class I'm happiest I had that would be the least obvious, given my path: statistics.

[Kirk Gittings]

For myself. My father was an avid amateur 35mm photographer and I grew up with a rough darkroom in our house. I started developing film and printing in the 6th grade. I never really though about making a living with it. In college I started out in economics and took a beginning photo class for fun in my sophomore year. I was hooked. Quite accidentally I had landed in the midst of a photographic whirlwind-the UNM photo program of the late 60's/early seventies with Coke, Newhall, Ray Metzger, Lazorik, Bety Hahn etc. In 78 I launched my architectural photography business (trying to figure out what else a VC was good for beyond making "art"). Through one of Lazorik's connections I ended up at the University of Calgary for my MFA with a free ride in 80. I went back to shooting architecture after that and teaching at UNM for 11 years-then got recruited by SAIC for the next 16 years and counting plus now SFUAD in SF. I continue to shoot architecture-its always been my main source of income and underwritten my b&w "art" photography when necessary. On a good year I can make some decent money selling my b&w prints, over 100 exhibits to date, but its never been a consistent $ source that I can rely on.

I did not need the MFA to shoot architecture but as that clientel is also formally educated they respect it. The MFA is most useful to be able to teach at a university level. I believe it also has some value in pursuing grants etc.

[Corran]

I learned almost everything I know about photography myself, through trial and error, and/or reading various articles/posts/opinions online, rather than a "formal" education in it. No one in my family had any knowledge or interest in photography, and I didn't even have any friends doing it, so I just dove in with a DSLR and worked it out myself. Taught myself how to process film and started working on darkroom printing before I ever talked to a real film photographer or even started posting here. My primary "teacher" was AA after reading The Camera/Negative/Print before ever buying a LF camera.

I think the primary reason for college degrees / experience in an art-related field is not so much the learning aspect (which is/can be important) but more-so the networking, facilities, and access to a knowledge base. I am lucky to be working AT a university, so I get a lot of those benefits, while not being a student. The students in the photography classes don't necessarily take advantage of these resources. It seems like some just think photography/art is easy. Those are the ones that of course fail (or barely pass, but don't actually do anything in art).

There are many paths but most importantly you have to have a drive to make photographs, or any art.

[jp]

I consider myself successful as a photographer but I don't make a living at it and don't even try. I've made photos for about 25 years for a variety of purposes ranging from sports to nature to weddings (did a few for $). I don't have issue with technical challenges of cameras/lenses/darkroom/computer and can often enough capture moods/feeling/compositions/light in photos the way I anticipate, so I consider myself successful in photography.

I don't want to sound like bragging, but just using some testimony to describe a different definition of success that a commercial photographer might not use.

I am a computer science dropout, but college required us to be well rounded, so I took a couple basic courses in art history and photo history. Some people avoid photo history fearing they will end up as copy cats, but I think it'll happen by chance just as easily and there is much to be inspired by studying the history of photography. Most of what I've learned is a mix of doing and reading about.

[Eric Biggerstaff]

If I am ever successful I will let you know!

However, I am a pretty darn good amateur I think and while I did take some college level photography courses, it was not my major (business and geology). A couple years after graduation I thought about going back to SMU to get a dual MFA and MBA that they offered at the time. But, I decided not to get that much into debt so I passed on it. My love of photography continued to grow and I ended up going to several workshops with people who I respected and then practiced, practiced and practiced. I continue to learn and I hope I never stop. My learning curve may have been longer as I was unable to devote 100% effort to the art, but the journey has been worth it and I have not lost the passion.

[Kirk Gittings]

For some reason the link I posted above for SFUAD faculty doesn't work and its too late to correct it so here it is again: http://santafeuniversity.edu/academi...raphy/faculty/

[Michael E]

After high school in Germany, I spent a couple of years in Michigan, studying photography and earning an Associate Degree. Back in Germany, I was an intern at a commercial studio for a year (advertising/industrial). Then I studied photography at a renowned academy and got a degree there. Since 1999, I'm working as a freelance photographer (documentary/advertising/corporate), since 2010 I have in addition a part time job at my former academy (a technical job, not a teaching position). Am I successful? Not by any means or standard. Did my degrees help in any way? For my freelance work, nobody ever cared about my education. For my academic career, my degrees were never good enough, somebody always had a better cv. There is an inflation in education, where a simple degree is not worth anything if everybody has one... What I learned is useful mainly for my art. Unfortunately, I don't make any money with that.