Photography

BFA • Photography Track

The BFA degree is the nationally accepted professional degrees in visual arts. These degrees carry a high level of expected growth and involvement on the student’s part. BFA students are not required to earn a minor outside of the visual arts, so spend more time studying in studios. Upon completion of 60 semester hours* in the university and 27 semester hours in art, majors who intend to apply for admission to the BFA degree option should register for ART 297 Portfolio Review. ART 297 Portfolio Review is the mechanism for faculty to review student portfolios so they may be admitted into the BFA program. All BFA majors are guaranteed a senior exhibition at NKU.  

BS • Photography Track

The BS in photography entails a comprehensive art and photography core consisting of 63 credit hours. In addition, students will choose one of three specialization tracks in the form of integrated minors to complete the degree: a minor in Entrepreneurial Studies, Journalism, or Media Informatics. The minor is tailored to the specific needs of photography students and photography related careers. This approach gives students a broad skillset in photography as well as depth in a chosen career path. 


• The Media Informatics integrated minor covers basic programming, web coding, interactive media, and 3MD modeling. Students pursuing this track will fuse their creative art degree with highly sought after informatics skills. 

• The Journalism integrated minor covers ethics and issues in mass media, newswriting, and advertising courses. Students pursuing this track will be prepared for jobs in photojournalism, advertising, or other careers in the media.
• The Entrepreneurial Studies integrated minor includes coursework in accounting, entrepreneurship, business, and enterprise creation. Students pursuing this track will prepare themselves for freelance work as photographers or starting their own photography business.

MINOR • Photography

The minor in photography is meant to give students an introduction to understanding photography. Students take a condensed version of the art foundations core along with introductory and advanced photography courses.

Through in-class demonstrations, students will learn the following technical skills:
• digital camera operation and control
• electronic flash operation, studio lighting, location techniques
• processing, organizing, compositing, and printing digital files
• mounting and matting photographic prints
• writing a research paper and creating a presentation

Through lectures and in-class critiques, students will learn the following conceptual elements:
• concepts in fine art photography including historic and contemporary practices
• the difference between the way things look in reality and the way it appears and takes on meaning as a photographic image
• a conceptual framework for looking at, talking about, and creating photographs
• how to edit a group of images to be presented as a portfolio
• communication of ideas through still imagery
• personal interests within the medium