School of Photographic Arts and Sciences
School of
Photographic Arts and Sciences
Overview
The School of Photographic Arts and Sciences molds imaginative visual artists, practitioners, and technologists through its programs that explore the depth and scope of contemporary imaging practices today and into the future. A more than 93 percent job placement rate demonstrates the programs’ career-focused curriculums that prepare students for success in a variety of fields, including biomedical photography, photojournalism, advertising, media design, moving media, and much more. Here, photography is taken to ambitious levels to create an environment where innovation flourishes. Our prominence derives from professional courses of study as well as a one-of-a-kind educational community that consists of critically regarded faculty, state-of-the-art facilities, an unmatched repository of equipment, and co-operative education and internship opportunities.
With a legacy more than 100 years in the making, the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences is critically regarded as an educational leader in the professional study of photography and its multiple practices. The school’s high rankings from leading college guides, industry leaders and internationally respected publications include the MFA in photography and related media's No. 6 position U.S. News and World Report’s ranking of graduate photography programs. The school also recently received a $3.5 million gift from alumnus Chance Wright — which was used for facilities renovations that allow RIT to continue growing as one of the world's premier education and research centers in contemporary image creation.
Charles Arnold Lecture Series
The school's signature lecture series brings speakers with experience, talent, insight and discovery to the creative and intellectual culture of RIT in honor of Professor Charles Arnold's contributions to the Photo School and the wider world of photography.
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Fully equipped studios for students to utilize, creating a professional environment for photoshoots.
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More than 200 elective and core courses are offered at the undergraduate level.
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Eleven photography alumni have combined to win 15 Pulitzer Prizes.
Graduate Viewbook
Our inspired graduate programs empower students by placing collaboration, advanced studio practice and research at their core.
Undergraduate Viewbook
The College of Art and Design is RIT’s intersection of technology, the arts and design — where creativity and innovation are boundless.
School of Photographic Arts and Sciences Brochure
With focuses on both art and science, our programs take photography to ambitious levels .
Latest News
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December 1, 2022
![Three headshots of Matthew Breitbart, Don Williams and Tom Rieger.]()
Preserving history: RIT alumni leading the way in establishing imaging standards
Matthew Breitbart '10, Tom Rieger '74 and Don Williams '82 are core members of the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative, which provides uniform methods that drive the digitization efforts of federal agencies, libraries, archives, museums and institutions around the world.
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November 28, 2022
![father and son holding hockey sticks posing outside of the ice of a hockey arena.]()
Father and son build a winning combination
Hockey has been a cornerstone in the lives of Allan Shepard ’62 (printing) and his son Bryan ’89 (motion picture science), even as they have both excelled in their careers.
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November 28, 2022
![black and white photo of a crowd of muddy spectators along an ATV race track.]()
Photo alumna named 2022 Guggenheim fellow
Rebecca Soderholm ’94 (photojournalism) is documenting the excitement of off-road dirt bike and ATV races through photography in a body of work titled “Hare Scramble.” Her vision for “Hare Scramble” earned Soderholm a spot as one of the 2022 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellows.
Featured Work
Portrait Photography Light
Students
Below is a selection of images created by Advertising Photography and Visual Media students for their final assignment in senior lecturer Clay Patrick McBride's Lighting Control and...
Wilderness Photography
Nell Pittman
A body of work by RIT photography and related media MFA student Nell Pittman.
Capstone Research Projects 2022
Michael Peres, Susan Lakin, Jenn Poggi, Daniel Hughes
Graduate students in RIT's media arts and technology MS program each complete a capstone research project related to graphic communications.
Featured Profiles
Photojournalism Capstone Project
Julia Popowych ’21 (Photojournalism) details her capstone project experience, which culminated in a documentary about K-12 learning during COVID-19. The Photojournalism senior capstone project is a...
Multimedia Storytelling
As a photojournalist for a major daily newspaper, David Wallace ’01 Photojournalism Option (Photographic and Imaging Arts BFA) has produced compelling stories honored with prestigious awards.
Imaging Technologies Expert
After graduating, Paul Reichert '01 (Imaging and Photographic Technology; now Photographic Sciences) joined the Photography and Television (Photo/TV) Operations group at NASA Johnson Space...
Undergraduate Programs
The photographic and imaging arts BFA program (with options in advertising photography, fine art photography, photojournalism, and visual media) promotes the creation, editing, and presentation of images in still, moving, and multimedia formats. The photographic sciences BS program (with options in biomedical photographic communications and imaging and photographic technology) prepares students for careers in healthcare and at scientific, forensic, and imaging technology companies.
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.
Graduate Programs
Students in the photography and related media MFA program study fine art practices with the goal of nurturing artistic individuality through extensive study of art practice, criticism, and aesthetics. The program is a professional two-year course of study in fine art photography, digital imaging, and moving media. In the 2016 U.S. News & World Report rankings, RIT was fourth nationally among graduate schools offering the fine arts specialty of photography.
In the media arts and technology MFA program, you will learn to leverage emerging technologies to your advantage. With a management focus, technical expertise, and comprehensive knowledge of how to drive the graphics process from concept through completion, you will be an attractive prospect in a wide range of industries, including education, engineering, marketing, research science, human resources, public relations, and more.
Facilities
With professional-level resources and access to industry-standard equipment, our photography facilities are regarded as some of the best in the country. And they were recently bolstered by a multi-million-dollar renovation. The state-of-the-art facilities include more than two dozen studios for professional-level shoots, 20 darkrooms for black-and-white or color film processing and printing, two well-stocked equipment cages for students to check out industry-standard gear and a world-class printing lab. Learn more about our facilities below, and view the Cage catalogue to see the range of equipment that is right at students' fingertips!