Skip to main content

California Institute of the Arts

BFA: Photography and Media

School of Art

A group of four people in a dark room point photo lights and cameras at an object they’re holding above a dramatically lit white table.

Lighting class in a photography studio.

Challenge ideas of image and art

With its roots in still photography, CalArts’ four-year BFA program in Photography and Media is dedicated to artists and image-makers who want to experiment with materials and ideas as they explore new ways to engage with lens-based work. Students engage in critical conversations about how images shape contemporary culture, while building the technical and formal skills needed to expand the possibilities of the media. Working in shared or individual studios (open 24/7), students have access to an array of labs and equipment, and mount solo exhibitions by their third year. Students’ media and approaches include still and moving images, installation, new media, sound, performance, and publication. And your practice will be grounded in conversations about the histories of photography and media, the politics of representation, the changing role of cameras and photography in our daily lives, social documentary, and activism.   

Student cutting photo negatives on light table in photo lab.

BFA Photography and Media student Rikki Yujian Cui.

Experiment as an image creator and expand the definition of lens-based work

BFA Photography and Media

CalArts’ BFA program in Photography and Media challenges students to question conventional notions of image and art through experimentation—with ideas, materials, and techniques alike. The curriculum moves through a suite of technical courses that address the ever-changing tools and techniques available, combined with theoretical coursework that interrogates the condition of the image, authorship, and media in our communities, and globalized world.  

Let’s connect

Throughout the four-year program, your mentor and faculty will provide technical expertise, guidance, and critique as you develop the skills and refine your individual artistic voice, preparing you to excel as a professional lens-based artist after graduation.

Graduates are equipped with the tools necessary to flourish as professional artists. The skills, knowledge, and critical thinking abilities you’ll acquire provide a foundation from which to pursue a wide range of career paths—CalArts alumni are filmmakers, documentarians, educators, editorial and commercial photographers, writers and art critics, journalists, curators, museum administrators, designers, publishers, and entrepreneurs, and work in photographic and film production companies, art galleries, photography labs, and fine-art finishing and handling services, among many other fields. With an emphasis on image-making and socially engaged practices, and a supportive environment in which to experiment and take creative risks, you may discover unexpected paths, or even create brand-new ones.

Students initially work in communal studios grouped by year level, and many upper-level BFAs are assigned individual studios. You’ll have access to specialized facilities, shops, and labs, as well as exhibition opportunities—including solo show by your third year—in some of CalArts’ many galleries.

In addition to core studio classes, all students are required to pass a graduation portfolio review in order to complete the program and obtain the BFA degree.

Interested in the program?

View our step-by-step application guide to learn more.  

Start your application

Admission requirements

To be considered for the BFA Photography and Media program, you must complete an application process and all program-specific requirements, including a portfolio of representative work, an artist statement, a brief video introduction, and two letters of recommendation. Before applying, be sure to familiarize yourself with the detailed application requirements and resources available to assist you in this important process.

Application requirements

Degree requirements

Each CalArts student develops a course of study in consultation with their faculty mentor. The program provides a structure for developing technical, conceptual, and critical skills that align with the core studio classes. As students progress through the program there is an increasing emphasis on independent work.

View BFA Photography and Media academic requirements

In addition to work in your specific program, all undergraduate students must complete requirements in general education, which we call Critical Studies. This liberal arts curriculum is designed to enable students to consider aesthetic questions within larger socio-cultural, ethical, and political contexts. 

View Critical Studies requirements

Minor and interdisciplinary opportunities

CalArts offers students the chance to pursue additional interests alongside your chosen discipline, such as a minor in Digital Arts, Critical Studies, or Arts Education.

Learn more about minors and interdisciplinary opportunities

Courses you might take

What courses would you take as a BFA student in Photography and Media? Browse the courses offered in the School of Art, including opportunities to work in painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, digital imaging, sculpture, installation, video, film, writing, and performance.

Explore the School of Art course catalog

Meet the faculty

At CalArts, faculty and students are collaborators, teaching, learning, and working together as members of our community of artists. 

What will you make?

Student Projects

The Art School Project Archive, a collection of final projects and exhibitions launched in May 2021, offers a window into the diverse and vital work our students are producing at CalArts.

Christian Chavez (BFA4), The Chavez Specter.

Christian Chavez (BFA4), The Chavez Specter.

Captivating power

Alum Carrie Mae Weems, BFA 81

With a MacArthur “genius” fellowship, the U.S. State Department’s Medal of Arts, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, and many others, Carrie Mae Weems (Photography and Media BFA 81) is among the most lauded artists of our time. Among her recent honors is the 2023 Hasselblad Award, bestowed “for her decades of work capturing the struggle for equality and painful history that African Americans have experienced, all under the undeniably captivating power of her photography.”

Photographic portrait of artist Carrie Mae Weems, laughing and dressed in black against a white background

Gallery

Some of our alumni

More School of Art alumni

Want to learn more?

We got you. Our Admissions team is all about providing the information you need to decide if CalArts is right for you. We’re excited to connect with you for a tour of our legendary campus, a virtual info session, or at one of our admissions events across the country or around the world. Take the next step—we’re here to help.