Top 4 Photography Career Tips from Griffith College
By Sinéad Murphy, Programme Director, BA in Photographic Media
Challenge: Photographer Robert Capa famously said,
“If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough.”
Challenge yourself as a photographer, notice your habits and push yourself to see and shoot the world in a different way to establish your own style, don’t just rely on your lenses to do the work for you. Our photography students are challenged each semester with different modules of varying genres of photography. The structure of the BA in Photographic Media course allows students to work at differing paces depending on their style of photography.
Equipment: Familiarise yourself with your equipment and always try before you buy. Our technicians on site in Griffith College have a great range of equipment and we encourage students to borrow gear before making any investment.
Anything but “auto”- to be a good photographer you need to have the ability to tell a story using your camera. You’ll never stand out from the crowd using the automatic setting. We teach all aspects of manual techniques on our photography courses allowing our students full control from the outset.
Inspiration: Make sure you keep looking at other photographers’ work to learn new ways of seeing the world and discovering techniques you can apply and adapt to make your own. As with any programme of study, the theory behind a technique and researching the work of others is an important aspect of learning. Our students’ world of imagery is significantly broadened during their time on the photography degree course. Griffith College’s library stocks a great range of photography books and is open seven days a week.
Confidence: Have confidence in yourself and your work. Photography is like any relationship; it’s normal to go through good and challenging times with it. Keep learning. Set up a blog or any online presence, put yourself out there and enter photography competitions.
Our students are encouraged to submit their work to all manner of competitions and have a great record in doing so, getting marks and the same work published is a win-win situation. The professional practice aspect of the BA in Photographic Media strengthens our students’ confidence and successful public speaking is a trait you will graduate from Griffith with.
What Are You Waiting For?
Keep an eye on the Photography Facebook page for updates, or come to our next open evening to hear first-hand what our photography programmes can do to boost your photography career.
Useful Resources
GCD Graduate Photography Exhibition & Media Show – a Facebook page showcasing the work of our students and graduates
Source Graduate Photography Online – view Griffith College Photography Graduates’ work
Browse journalism and media courses
Faculty of Journalism and Media Communications