Academic Catalog

PHOT 457: PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES IN PHOTOGRAPHY NONCREDIT

Foothill College Course Outline of Record

Foothill College Course Outline of Record
Heading Value
Effective Term: Summer 2025
Units: 0
Hours: 3 lecture, 3 laboratory per week (72 total per quarter)
Advisory: Completion or near completion of core courses for the AA degree in Photography or permission of instructor.
Degree & Credit Status: Non-Degree-Applicable Non-Credit Course
Foothill GE: Non-GE
Transferable: None
Grade Type: Non-Credit Course (Receives no Grade)
Repeatability: Unlimited Repeatability

Student Learning Outcomes

  • A successful student will create a portfolio of 10-20 photographic images suitable for a digital or print portfolio and/or exhibition that align with professional goals.
  • A successful student will develop business marketing materials such as a resumŽ, website, business card, "leave-behind" postcards and/or a zine that align with professional goals.

Description

Organization of photographic work and projects to meet individual goals, including transfer, exhibition, and employment. Goal setting, as well as portfolio conceptualization, sequencing, and presentation (analog and digital) as required for school, job, grant, portfolio review, and exhibition applications. Development of professional materials, such as photographic portfolios, resumes, websites, and business cards. Understanding business practices, contracts, and licensing for photographic work. Grant-writing and other methods of fundraising for long-term project work. Students share work with the broader community through exhibitions, publications, social media, and/or other publishing platforms.

Course Objectives

The student will be able to:

  1. Organize visual work into portfolio(s) that demonstrate proficiency in photography and/or visual project work that aligns with individual goals.
  2. Discuss and evaluate personal work and the work of classmates during class critique sessions, then integrate feedback effectively.
  3. Identify and interview a photographer, with special attention to those from diverse cultures and backgrounds, who successfully works with similar themes and approaches. Write and present a paper outlining personal goals in photography, including anecdotes from the interviewee that highlight how they reached similar goals.
  4. Develop business support materials, including a mission statement, website, business card, resume, social media plan, leave-behind cards, and artist statement.
  5. Assemble, sequence, and present a professional digital and/or print portfolio that supports student's goals.
  6. Select, sequence, and prepare photographs suitable for exhibition.

Course Content

  1. Survey the current field of photography
    1. Employment opportunities
    2. Exhibition opportunities
    3. Publication opportunities
    4. Grant/Scholarship and other financial opportunities
    5. Educational opportunities
  2. Identify gallery/exhibition site options and opportunities
    1. Commercial galleries
    2. Non-profit galleries
    3. Alternative physical exhibition sites
      1. Corporations
      2. Libraries
      3. Non-profits
      4. Public buildings
      5. Schools
    4. Digital, 3-D, and/or immersive exhibition/gallery opportunities
  3. ​Overview of employment options
    1. Staff positions
      1. Media companies
      2. Commercial studios
      3. Corporate communications offices
      4. Higher education
        1. Teaching
        2. Communications offices
        3. Sports teams
      5. Non-profits
    2. Self-employment/freelance
      1. Sole proprietor
      2. LLC
  4. Business practices
    1. Identity and marketing
    2. Licensing and contracts
    3. Billing
    4. Taxes
    5. Legal
    6. Ethics
  5. Goal setting
    1. Development of personal goals for photographic career
    2. Development of business/action plan to meet these goals
    3. Development of support materials for individual goals
      1. Resume
      2. Artist statement
      3. Business card
      4. Logo
      5. Portfolio building
      6. Social media plans
      7. Researching appropriate contacts/institutions
  6. Feedback
    1. Discussion/practice giving/receiving feedback through critique sessions and portfolio reviews
    2. Provide strategies for implementing information gained from class critique, discussions, and portfolio reviews
    3. Guidance in sensitizing students to the importance of input of those from diverse cultures and backgrounds in enhancing and enriching their work
  7. Portfolios
    1. Review presentation techniques: traditional, non-traditional, analog, and digital
    2. Produce effective support materials for career advancement
  8. Exhibitions
    1. Identification of an exhibition (or publication) appropriate for a body of work
    2. Pitching a body work for exhibition (or publication)
    3. Design, curation, and preparation for an exhibition, including presentation strategies
    4. Shipping work
      1. Preparation
      2. Cost estimations 

Lab Content

  1. Preparation of professionally presented photographs in physical and digital settings
  2. Visit and review photography exhibitions in museums and galleries
  3. Class critiques and completion of assignments and exercises
  4. Toning and editing photographs based on critical feedback
  5. Development of business materials, such as a marketing plan, resume, website, artist/mission statement, business card, and leave-behind materials for promotion
  6. Identifying and interviewing photographers working in similar themes or subject matter
  7. Artist and commercial studio visits

Special Facilities and/or Equipment

1. A lecture room equipped with color LCD overhead projector for displaying projected computer monitor displays; an instructional computer with high resolution monitor, scanner, color printer, and necessary software; lighting and wall space suitable for displaying and critiquing physical content.
2. An integrated or separate facility with support for student computer time.
3. For all sections of this course, students will need access to a computer with internet connectivity and access to the college's learning management system.

Method(s) of Evaluation

Methods of Evaluation may include but are not limited to the following:

Presentation of portfolio (digital and/or print)
Participation in class discussions and critiques
Presentation of goals and plan for reaching these goals
Student resume, artist's statement, other support materials
Informational interview
Participation in exhibition(s) and/or other publication/presentation of work
Photographer paper

Method(s) of Instruction

Methods of Instruction may include but are not limited to the following:

Lecture presentations and classroom discussion
Class critiques and discussion of photographs, portfolios, business plans, and other content produced for course assignments, exercises, and objectives
Presentation by students about the photographer they interviewed followed by in-class discussion and evaluation
Artist talks

Representative Text(s) and Other Materials

Werner, Thomas. The Business of Fine Art Photography: Art Markets, Galleries, Museums, Grant Writing, Conceiving and Marketing Your Work Globally. 2023.

Types and/or Examples of Required Reading, Writing, and Outside of Class Assignments

  1. Reading assignments from course text(s) and journals in the field
  2. Gallery/museum reports
  3. Review of handouts and support materials
  4. Review of websites about photographers and photographic organizations

Discipline(s)

Photography