Photography Majors

I get a kick out of people who say people who do art are taking the easy way out, or slackers, or going to fail in life. It's true that some people who join the major are slackers... but doesn't every major have those people?

The daily day of an art student starts way before they even wake up. Many majors deal with textbooks, and studying in the library for hours on end. We have to go out into the world and make things. Whether that means getting people together to take their picture, or spending hours upon hours for their clay pots to dry. That means having models to pose for you as you draw them, that means being able to write a script for that film you want to shoot. It means understanding how graphic design even works and flows.

Going to art school is not only visual learning, but conceptually grasping how people see the world. Artists are designers. Your driver's license, your mug, your computer... all were designed by artists. The websites you look at, the graphics on the news stations you watch, the ads on the subway, the books you read. That textbook for your class. All these things were designed by people who spent years learning how to arrange articles on a page, compose photographs, and edit code so that websites looks perfect.

I know people understand how much image culture affects everyone. And if you didn't, I hope my little rant above brought you to a closer understanding. What irks me is that people believe that the arts aren't needed, and that by doing them, somehow you're a slacker, a fake, a phony. I've heard too many times the stereotype that artists are people who aren't good at anything else. That's so far from the truth it hurts.

I specialize in photography. I make imagery that revolves not only alien culture, but past photographic aesthetic, propaganda from the Cold War, the Civil Rights movement, the 1960s as a whole. I have photography peers who deal with issues such as racial differences, the death of a sibling, the military culture of the US, the comaradere of a mechanic shop. These images don't come from thin air. They take research. They take studying. They take time learning how to approach subjects, how to position equipment, and how to immerse yourself in a group you're not familiar with.

It's a little unorthodox, but the actor Jesse Eiseinberg has a cute quote that goes as such, "When I was a kid I wanted to be an astronaut and a banana, but now that I'm an actor I can be both."

That quote has stuck with me. If only because being an artist is the same thing. I can research astrophysics, I can research Charles Darwin, I can research feminist movements. I can research anything of interest and make art about it. I am not restrained by any topic.

Knowing me, I'd feel too restricted in any other major. I am not a slacker. I am not worthless. I am definitely not taking the easy way out. And I absolutely am not a failure. I have job prospects because I worked hard for my connections and my talents -- just like every other college kid my age.