Expert: Don Wood - 9/17/2002

Question
Don,

My son is a high school senior with a very strong interest and passion for photography.  He has shown great talent but is not sure what area of photography he wants to get involved in.  Currently he has applied to the Art Institute of Colorado looking to get a bachelors degree in photography.  Can you give me some practical advice as to where he should look to go to school and how he should approach a career in photography?  Thanks much for you time.  I appreciate it. (I'm a volunteer in another area and I understand the time commitment.)

Thanks much.

Craig Siphers

Answer
I would say that you should get the most education you can. Go to a college and major in journalism with a minor in photography. Many of the small newspapers will take what they can get to take the pictures. Most will hand a reporter a camera and ask them to take a picture to illustrate their story. Very few newspapers except the large volume papers, in terms of papers sold, can afford the luxury of having a specialized position like a photographer. If you are in a college journalism program, one of the classes you will be taking is an internship of 6-8 weeks doing assignments for a working newspaper. You will gain valuable experience which will give you credentials for the upcoming career. You will be critiqued on your work so that you will know your strengths and weaknesses.
Alternative, perhaps your local paper will accept you as a part-timer good only for those times when the story doesn't warrant any but a picture of those attending; class reunion, family reunion, etc. Bear in mind that you will not be able to make more than pocket change in this environmant. You will go on the assignments when they occur and there are no reporters available. You will get hourly pay for your endeavors but they will be less than an hour in length for each assignment. You may be lucky and hit a publisher that will pay by the assignment rather than by the hour. But I suspect that most editors/publishers will take the cheap way out since they are in a small market and money {advertising} is hard to get.
Hope this hasn't discouraged you too much but I'm trying to be honest. This is the way I've done it for 35 years, I'm still getting only $5.00 per hour.
In short, I would suggest getting the best education you can get, there are some photography schools that suck as Brooks Institute of Photography in California, New York University has one. There are others out there that might be helpful.
Lots of luck, keep me posted.
Don