Photography and Media Arts

Photography and Media Arts teaches a wide range of skills, from traditional photography through to advanced new-media technologies. The department hosts two majors in the Bachelor of Visual Arts program: the Photomedia Major [1] and the Digital Media Major [2].

Professional Training
We place great emphasis on professional training. Students learn about applying for grants; working collaboratively; working with large institutions or with the community; project management; the verbal expression of their ideas; and the presentation of professional portfolios and show reels.We don’t train our students for just one kind of job, or teach them to work in an already familiar style. Rather we give them both the technical and conceptual tools to develop their own set of interests and an original visual vocabulary. These can then be applied and extended in a wide variety of personal and professional contexts in the creative arts and new media industries.We encourage our students to enrich their ideas and develop their skills by researching the wider cultural context of their work. All our lecturing staff have nationally and internationally recognised careers as artists and media makers, and all have independent research interests in contemporary visual culture.

Careers
Graduates from Photography and Media Arts go on to be practicing visual artists, filmmakers, animators, sound artists, and new media artists; to undertake further study and higher degree research (often with scholarships); to work in galleries and museums; to train as teachers or lecturers; to set up their own businesses; to work in the new media, film and animation industry, or in printing, design and publishing businesses; and so on. Many of our graduates travel and work overseas, others find employment in Canberra’s many national institutions.Our students place their work in a national and international context. Photography and Media Arts often hosts significant international visiting artists for extended periods of time, and students have the opportunity to study at major art schools in Paris, Berlin, Glasgow, Vancouver, Alberta, Chicago, Kyoto, Valencia and other centres of contemporary art.

In addition to the Bachelor of Visual Arts Photomedia Major and the Digital Media Major, the department also teaches the specialist Master of New Media Arts and the Master of Visual Effects. As well Master of Visual Arts and Master of Arts students pursue coursework programs in the department, while Master of Philosophy and PhD students pursue high-level research programs in a wide variety of areas.

The School of Art is a unique and exciting interdisciplinary environment for the use of computers by artists and creative professionals interested in exploring the full potential of emerging technologies and new media.

For further information. Contact: Dr Martyn Jolly [3].