About the Program

The first is gaining a conscious or intuitive understanding of the visual language of photography. That is, how the world is translated into a photograph and how a photograph orders in space and time the segment of the world that it shows. This is a photograph’s grammar.

The second factor is the acquisition of technique. Without a technical foundation, expression is impossible; conversely, the broader the foundation, the greater the scope of expression. This is a photograph’s vocabulary.

The third factor is the photographer’s work on his or her self. This entails overcoming visual and psychological preconceptions and conditioning, deepening and clarifying perceptions, and opening up to one’s emotions and finding one’s passions. This is a photograph’s content. It is the Photography Program’s aim to offer instruction in this three-part process and to provide a historical and aesthetic framework for the student’s development within the context of a broad-based liberal arts education.