Can you guys critique my website/portfolio of my large format photography work?

[Drew Wiley]

Same reason I dropped out of a paleoanthropology career. Work most of your life to have some higher-up in the Academic ladder take credit for what you yourself actually did? - and then wait, wait, wait till they finally croak, and then fight to get the same peck order position? I even had papers of mine plagiarized. Heard first person stories about how some of the superstars on that discipline did the same kind of plagiaristic thing. Tells far more about human behavior today than what they allegedly studied. And this or that flavor of political correctness - well that sure better conform to whoever chairs the department at the time. Kinda off topic for here, but analogous. I didn't even like partying with the art gurus of my own generation. What does booze or cocaine or pot have to do with real visual eloquence?

[Bernice Loui]

In years past one of the fave things to do was take visitors interested to the Cantor Arts and Anderson at Stanford. Good variety of art in a compact area.

https://museum.stanford.edu/

https://anderson.stanford.edu/

Taking in much as possible can result in broader perspectives and some experience with what has been done.
Current focus on socio-political appears to be rooted in giving voice to those denied a voice in culture-society. Valid as Art (far more than photography) is and can be the heart, mind, soul and identity of a Nation-Society-Culture.


Bernice

One thing I found in art school is the exposure to many different styles and techniques that I might not have experimented with or experienced on my own, in my "art bubble." This came from other students as much as the instructors. Yes, there is the extant hierarchy, the current trends (seem mostly socio-political right now, along with mixing photography with other media) but I am no longer in school and who knows what the students are up to now. The few MFA shows I've attended did not appeal to me artistically, but I'm an old fart now and probably out of touch.

[Drew Wiley]

The big uber-expensive new UCB art and cinema venue does a lot of MFA and Grantee shows which look like exactly that - people fishing around for a pat on the head from higher ups in terms of their notion of current political and creative relevance. I just call it superficiality; and that's why I'm not a member. Their previous art museum actually had more breadth of visual diversity per se. But the scale of this newer thing, which looks like a giant stainless steel DeLorean spaceship had just landed, was obviously fund-wise dependent on the whims and tastes of certain mega-rich sponsors. I've been involved with both venues in an secondary sense, relative to construction needs, so inevitably know some of the inside cost story too, and obviously the intense local politics side of it too.

But that's always been somewhat the case, everywhere in every era. Hence for each phase of art demagoguery, there's been an art rebellion, which if successful, enjoyed its own phase of demagoguery... and so goes around the wheel seemingly forever. Photography is no different. I just don't want to be on that hamster treadmill. It was bad enough just selling supplies to numerous airhead gallery venues for several decades, though there was one notable museum in this area, with more down to earth staff, which was delightful to deal with. Those people became lifetime friends.

[xkaes]

It comes down to why we make photographs.
For me it was always for myself -- to hang on my walls or give to friends.
I've tried selling in galleries and "community fairs", etc. Just a waste of time.
I'm been paid for lots of jobs -- weddings, magazines, etc. Another waste of time.
I can't imagine trying to make a living on either path -- and still enjoying photography for myself.

[jnantz]

I even had papers of mine plagiarized. Heard first person stories about how some of the superstars on that discipline did the same kind of plagiaristic thing. Tells far more about human behavior today than what they allegedly studied.

it's not just in academia that student's ideas are borrowed .. seems everyone things everything is "open source"

[Pieter]

Well, this thread has finally gone off the rails like most.

[h2oman]

in the case of the OP he is looking for a full scholarship so it's just time he'd be spending, and if he works off his scholarship teaching classes, he'll have more teaching experience if he wanted to go that route, and he'll have the pedigree that some gallerists look for ( being able to talk the talk and walk the walk ). typically when I've read threads with people who express an interest in higher-ed immediately there are greeted by people who go off on some anti education anti elitist rant, usually ending up with some sort of diatribe about how much they hate what is considered "art" today, their dislike of Cindy Sherman & all sorts of other nonsense. At least this thread didn't end up with that ...

Thumbs up!

[Drew Wiley]

Depends. About two years ago I watched an interesting PBS documentary about a particular 1940's NEA grant recipient who had "unfairly" disappeared from recognition, presumably due to a certain hot topic I'll skirt for sake of tranquility. But the real reason that he was shunned was that once his masterpiece was completed, it turned out to be a blatant piece of plagiarism of a work a decade earlier on the opposite side of the country, with just a few superficial changes added. I recognized that in mere seconds. But apparently those who did this TV special didn't. But it fit well into a their objective to find and showcase examples of stereotypical prejudice, so they tried to make him look like a cultural martyr. Didn't do their homework, but that's about 50/50 on even the better TV documentaries.

[Alan Klein]

One thing I found in art school is the exposure to many different styles and techniques that I might not have experimented with or experienced on my own, in my "art bubble." This came from other students as much as the instructors. Yes, there is the extant hierarchy, the current trends (seem mostly socio-political right now, along with mixing photography with other media) but I am no longer in school and who knows what the students are up to now. The few MFA shows I've attended did not appeal to me artistically, but I'm an old fart now and probably out of touch.

It seems it teaches conformity and the style of the day rather than individual creativity. But you see the same thing in academia in economics, climate science, as well as the arts. If you want to get ahead, you have to allow yourself to be indoctrinated. You go along to get along.

[Pieter]

It seems it teaches conformity and the style of the day rather than individual creativity. But you see the same thing in academia in economics, climate science, as well as the arts. If you want to get ahead, you have to allow yourself to be indoctrinated. You go along to get along.

I don't think that is necessarily so in the arts. The arts by nature encourage independence. "It is more like look at me, I don't conform to anything" which of course is conforming to nonconformism. Most art coming out of schools today is about how far can one go from the standards to get attention rather than having depth, understanding and skill.