Should a Photographer Go to Art School?

When I first started my wedding photography business, the only two people noticed: my mother, and my husband. And it stayed this way for months while I practiced my craft and learned photography. When I started second shooting, my portfolio blossomed and I was indebted to the photographers who allowed me the honor of assisting them. I shot my first wedding in September 2006 and two more the following month.

In 2007, without photographic education, professional gear, or industry connections, I booked 38 weddings and my business hit the ground running (I detailed the crazy journey in Exposed Magazine). However, I quickly became the center of lots of criticism and sharp opinions regarding my work. Photographers were more than ready to point out my lack of qualifications and questioned why anyone would hire me. But–and here's the kicker–brides continued to book me as their wedding photographer.

This experience (seemingly nonsensical to most creatives) taught me two things:
    1. Earning a degree in business may have played to my advantage over a degree in photography.
I'm not saying earning a photo degree isn't valuable (at all), but what I can say is that learning how to run a profitable business, understanding the complexities of marketing, and treating clients with the utmost care isn't the stuff that's being taught in art school…but it's the very thing that will empower entrepreneurs to pursue their artistic endeavors.

    2. If you're passionate enough, you can teach yourself technical aspects of photography.
For the past few years, I've been embarrassed by my business acumen, as it seemed dwarfed by my lack of formal photo education, but I recently read this article by Jeremy Cowart whether someone should go to art school…everything he said was spot on! I made lots of mistakes when I first started shooting, but those mistakes were priceless for me to create my own rules, and not abide by formal technical expectations. I learned making my own rules was a way to grow faster.

The only thing I want for aspiring photographers is to pursue their dreams. If you're just starting out and didn't go to art school or you don't have the fanciest gear, welcome to the club. In order for you to thrive in this competitive industry, grab your camera and shoot. Then shoot some more. Shoot til you're learning what you're doing wrong. Then go take a few business classes (accounting, marketing, communications) at a local community college. That, my friends, is a solid start to your dream.