School of Photographic Arts and Sciences

Immerse yourself in the creativity and innovation of photography and imaging, with options in advertising photography, fine art photography, photojournalism, and visual media.

The advertising photography option prepares students for diverse and rewarding careers in the field of visual communications. While encouraging and nurturing students’ individual image-making practice, students learn to create photographs and moving media for a wide range of commercial use in today’s fast changing media environment. This option is part of the Photographic and Imaging Arts BFA program.

The fine art photography option prepares students for careers as visual artists, educators, editorial photographers, or freelance artists. Graduates are employed in a number of professional fine-art related institutions such as museums, archives, studios, and commercial galleries. The primary goal is to nurture the artist’s personal aesthetic vision through photographic expression. Studying the theoretical and practical skills needed to create thought-provoking and meaningful images develops technical, conceptual, and aesthetic abilities, and furthers students' goals as contemporary image-makers. This option is part of the Photographic and Imaging Arts BFA program.

The photojournalism option teaches students to produce non-fiction visual reporting that tells the stories of people, social issues and events for diverse and modern media outlets including digital and print. Students learn to create and publish both still photographic reporting as well as moving and interactive media that document our diverse culture, evoking both the momentous and the everyday circumstances of contemporary life and society. The photojournalism option allows flexibility and individual specialization where students can find their primary interest. Students take required courses in photojournalism fundamentals, picture editing, and multimedia, including sound, video gathering, and video editing. This option is part of the Photographic and Imaging Arts BFA program.

The visual media option allows students to integrate the graphic communications professions of photography, media design, and business. Most visual media students earn a minor in business. This option prepares students for a career as a visual
 media specialist or other professional positions that have a demand for photographically skilled professionals who can work effectively with graphic designers, print media specialists, multimedia and social media professionals. This option is part of the Photographic and Imaging Arts BFA program.

Gain experience in a wide range of technical imaging and photography applications by combining your imaging studies with studies in information technology, computer science, optics, and biology for careers with imaging and camera companies, research centers, forensic laboratories, and government agencies.

The biomedical photographic communications option prepares students for photographic careers in a wide variety of environments including forensic and research laboratories, hospitals, and other biological settings such as ophthalmic (eye) clinics and veterinary research schools, or in other life science situations such as pharmaceutical companies. All students in the photographic sciences degree share foundational courses in combination with practical experiences using digital photographic equipment and processes, that include still and moving media, as well as digital media applications. Additional elective courses in the life sciences prepare students for work assignments such as creating images useful for scientists or biological research. Students can specialize in light and confocal microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and ophthalmic imaging. Course work can be used to assist in the preparation for certification as a Certified Retinal Angiographer (CRA), administered by the Ophthalmic Photographer’s Society. This option is part of the Photographic Sciences BS program.

The imaging and photographic technology option prepares students for imaging or image analysis careers in governmental agencies, industrial or corporate environments such as Apple Inc., NVIDIA, and NASA. The third and fourth years allow students to build on a strong foundation of photographic technology, creating areas of specialization that include color measurement, high-speed imaging, optics and camera testing, and image analysis. Complementary courses include programming for imaging, physics, and applications of color in imaging. These courses provide hands-on exposure using modern tools and techniques. Students may choose from a variety of electives including scanning electron microscopy, high-speed photography, and imaging science, as well as image quality and color measurement and management. Many students have also taken advantage of the imaging systems minor to complete a unique education only available at RIT. This option is part of the Photographic Sciences BS program.