Photography, Bachelor of Fine Arts

Admission

As part of the admission process, you must submit your portfolio of original artwork to the Department of Art and Design via SlideRoom. This online portfolio service will allow you to upload, label, arrange, and submit your portfolio electronically. We request 12-15 images using JPG format, for the Macintosh platform. More information on the types of files accepted for upload and specific instructions for portfolio submissions and requirements is available on our department page.

After completing the Undergraduate Admission application, you will be able to upload your images through SlideRoom.

We accept portfolios and applications on a rolling basis, but you must submit the portfolio via SlideRoom on or before January 15 if you wish to be considered for one of the visual art scholarships. If you wish to apply for early action, please submit your portfolio via SlideRoom by December 15.

If you continue to have questions regarding this process after reading the portfolio requirements on the department page, please feel free to contact the Department Chair directly at: [email protected].

If you would like more information about admission to this and other acclaimed undergraduate programs at St. John’s University, please visit Undergraduate Admission.

Courses

Program Requirements: B.F.A. in Photography

To earn a B.F.A. in Photography at St. John's, you complete 132 credits in core, major requirements, and elective courses as outlined below. For more information about courses, please see the St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Science section of our Undergraduate Bulletin.

In addition, you must select five art electives (15 credits total). 

Career Outcomes

Thanks to their strong personal and professional connections, our professors help you build your own network in New York’s art scene. As a senior, you will explore internships with publishers, magazines, advertising agencies, graphic design studios, museums, galleries, and other organizations that will help you launch a successful career.

A survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal includes St. John’s among its Top 100 colleges that are “most likely to help students land a job in key careers and professions — areas that are growing, pay well and offer high levels of satisfaction.” Studios, galleries, multimedia communications firms, and business companies in general rely on the creative intuition and skills of designers to reach their target audience. This competitive field is expected to grow an estimated 13 percent, especially in the interactive media sector. Our alumni find great success within their field of study and most of our interns are hired by the hosting firm before they even graduate.

Global Approach to Education

The Department of Art and Design at St. John's has been a leader in Global Education since 1989. As a B.F.A. candidate, you are eligible to apply all of the courses we offer abroad as an art elective. We offer courses and programs in Rome, Paris, Spain, and around the world. We encourage you to use visual media to develop a broader understanding of humanity from both a global and personal perspective.

Additional Information

As a B.F.A. student at St. John's, you gain a solid foundation in art theory and its applications to various media. You learn from an enormously gifted, internationally-known faculty of artists whose work appears in galleries, exhibitions and publications in New York City, across the country, and around the world.

The Department of Art and Design offers full and partial scholarships to first-year students with a record of exemplary skills in high school. Two full-time, four-year scholarships are awarded to students who demonstrate extraordinary proficiency in drawing, painting, printmaking, illustration, graphic design, and/or photography.

St. John’s also awards a $1,000 incentive scholarship to high school seniors who demonstrate excellence in the visual arts. Students are selected through the portfolio review process. For more information, contact Nerissa Palad-Palermo: 718-990-6250; [email protected].

Our studios provide an ideal atmosphere for you to learn as you create under the guidance of master teachers. Our facilities include state-of-the-art classrooms featuring cutting-edge equipment and software.

All of our B.F.A. programs offer you the option to complete a thesis or internship during your last year of study. Thesis students work closely with faculty to create a body of work to present to galleries or use in an M.F.A. application portfolio. Internships are arranged according to your interests and career goals. Since we are located just 20 minutes from New York City and have established a strong network of affiliates and alumni who now hold impressive positions within the art world, you have an extensive range of internship opportunities available to you. You benefit from our 50 years of experience and educational excellence in the visual arts.