Scrabble at the Beauty Bar
Dear Friends and Followers,
Should I go get my MFA in photography?
My major thoughts on this:
It’s important to love what you study and practice. I’ve been shooting since I was six or seven years old. My first major publication was in the Los Angeles Times Home Magazine when I was 17 or 18. I love the art and science and history of photography. I’ve been semi-pro on and off for years. I taught underwater photography 20 years ago in the Cayman Islands. I went all pro 3 years ago and if you include my stint at Club Photo I’ve been solidly involved in the industry for over 5 straight years. I’m not a corporate cubicle guy – in retrospect, I’ve been happiest when shooting and involved in the art and industry of photography.
Two Masters’ degrees? I have to be an entrepreneur as well as a photographer in order to make a living doing what I love. It sure helps having the training and experience the MBA brings me. As an MBA I loved certain aspects of business and have been able to do solid work for many companies. The MBA also allowed me to teach business courses. I loved teaching business collegiate settings and I loved teaching photography even when underwater. A major goal of the MFA is to allow me to teach photography and a lot more. The MFA education will provide me two distinct benefits One, I’ll become a better photographer. Two, I’ll have the ability to teach at a collegiate level.
As an MFA/MBA I would bring substantial experience and educational ability to the classroom and my own practice. I have a particular interest in teaching crossover business courses to artists. Many MBA programs are really good at teaching course to people that want to be entrepreneurs but don’t know what business they want to create. Many artists are wannabe entrepreneurs that lack the business skills to live a good life doing what they love. I’d like to help correct that. I’d happily teach a class on cost estimation one hour then go teach a class on lighting techniques or camera basics the next hour.
Teaching and practicing pro photography would be the best balance in life I could see for myself over the next 20 years.
Now, my good friend Kirk Membry, who specializes in pano photography and design (his panos here), made a great point when he said “Why don’t you just get your Adobe Instructor Certification? That MFA is really expensive.”
Good points. Maybe I can sate my appetite for teaching by doing that and I can save $50k at the same time. Wow, that is a compelling reason to really think about it.
Which I did for a couple days. Sure, I could do that. Becoming an ACI It doesn’t force me to study photography and really delve into the art. I want to broaden my exposure and find new areas to develop depth. The MFA experience should be an emmersive journey in addition to mastering tools and techniques.
