Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/11/25

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Subject: Re: [Leica] OT:Photo grad school.
From: "Sonny Carter" <sonc@sonc.com>
Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2001 09:23:12 -0600
References: <F97zZelEXz3xDzILRAp000172e9@hotmail.com>

Rusty,

Those  "Stay in School" bumper stickers are aimed at high school students, not
photographers.  First, let me tell you that the two really nice guys who teach
photography at my University have never actually made a substantial portion of their
living from taking pictures.   Now, we don't have an MFA in Photography here, (though
you could specialize,)  so you may take this advice as a "no sales pitch" answer.

If you're determined to get your masters degree, why not consider a MBA with an
emphasis on marketing?

There's  some experience behind this suggestion.  For many years, I functioned quite
nicely as a staff photographer for some major television operations.  I got gutsy and
said, "I can make it as a free-lancer!"   Actually, I did rather well on the outside,
but the big problem was that I had put all my eggs in the shooting basket, and knew
little about business and cash flow, and seasonal projections . . .

In the end things got lean, even though I had lots of work.

You see this in all areas of life.  A guy is a good cook, opens a restaurant, and
finds out it is as much a business as an art, and guess who washes dishes when the
dishwasher doesn't show up?

A great TV reporter advances to managing editor, and then to News Director where he
has to deal with contracts and budgets and overtime, and he fails.

Over the years, I've seen many talented photographers miss greatness because they
fail at either the business or the marketing portion of the program.  You can learn
all you need to know about the fine art of photography from some of the really great
workshops available,  from getting out there and shooting, and  from sharing your
work with others in a critical setting.

If that is not enough for you, then the much better thing than an MFA is to get on
with an established photographer and work with her/him for a few years, and by
osmosis, you'll get more understanding of this art than all the schools in the nation
can teach you.

Regards,

Sonny
http://www.sonc.com









From: "rusty hubbard"

> ANyone out there with suggestions for a school to go to to get my MFA in
> Photography?? I'm just in the early stages of thinking about it..(:O)
> Thanks,Rusty Hubbard
> "Walking Through Prague"
> <http://www.photo.net/users/rustyhub>
>


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Replies: Reply from "Ted Grant" <tedgrant@home.com> ([Leica] WAS: Photo grad school.:-( BUSINESS SCHOOL! :-))
In reply to: Message from "rusty hubbard" <rustyhubbard@hotmail.com> ([Leica] OT:Photo grad school.)