Photography
BFA in Visual Art with a Concentration in Photography
**Beginning Fall 2025, the Department of Visual Art will admit students to the newly relocated concentration in Photography to offer an additional BFA and Minor in Visual Art
As we transition, stay tuned for updates and details regarding the Photography Minor and JCCC to KU Photography Program. Inquiries can be directed to Elise Kirk, Program Director and Instructor: elisekirk@ku.edu**
In a world where images are everywhere and image is everything, KU’s BFA concentration in Photography is a rigorous creative and professional program providing students an immersed exploration into the expansive photographic medium. We strive to cultivate critical and analytical thinkers who are not only innovative visual artists and communicators, but self-actuated individuals better prepared to advance in a culture increasingly saturated with visual media.
Photography students develop strong technical skills, visual language, and personal vision and voice through a variety of studio and seminar courses including digital and darkroom, studio lighting, moving image and sound, alternative and experimental processes, cultural theory and history, and professional practices. The curriculum is supplemented with internships, guest visits, field trips, and extra-curricular opportunities, and culminates with a final portfolio of visual work and contextual statements along with a public gallery exhibition.
Work by Tomas Andreas
A photography student installs for the 2024 Senior Show
Work by Charlie Pott
Careers
KU Photography graduates work as photographers, artists, designers, cinematographers, editors, assistants, coordinators, archivists, technicians, account executives and art directors in a wide range of visual fields, including: arts organizations, galleries and museums, advertising, studios, marketing and communications, media, editorial and publishing.
Resources
Enjoy access to state-of-the-art facilities.Including cutting-edge digital imaging labs with flatbed and virtual drum scanners and large format inkjet printers and a color viewing station, a spacious and fully-equipped lighting studio, a traditional wet darkroom with twenty enlarging stations, a dedicated alternative processes lab, and an expansive collection of camera, video, and sound equipment available for studio use or check out, including:
- Various film cameras, from 35mm to medium format
- Canon DSLR cameras up to the 5D Mark IV
- Sony & Fuji digital mirrorless and medium format cameras
- Blackmagic Pocket Cinema cameras
- Tascam audio recorders and lavalier and shotgun microphones
Curriculum
Document the world and convey ideas.Through a progression of studio projects and career-focused experiences, you will enhance your proficiency as a photographer. This journey will equip you with essential skills and an understanding of visual language, spanning historical, experimental, and cutting-edge image and media techniques.
Seminars foster a sustained practice and communication through peer critique, theory courses explore how images function in society, studios offer a choice of hands-on special topics, and professional practice presents career and funding opportunities through conversations with those working in the field.
Coursework is supplemented by internships, national and international visiting artists, conferences, and field trips, and culminates in a senior showcase where students create, curate and install a public exhibition of their final work.
The Minor in Photography emphasizes visual literacy, critical thinking, and creative and professional practice. Successful candidates will cultivate an advanced visual language in support of their major studies and exit the program with a working technical and conceptual grasp of photography as an expressive and communicative medium.
