Son wants to get a BFA in photography, but we're worried about his employability with it...

[cvjw]

A friend‘s daughter took on student loans to get an art degree from UGA. Could not find a job after graduation using the degree. She is now a hairdresser with thousands in student loans for an expensive art degree.

My younger son also wanted to pursue a less employable field. We told him he could do that AFTER getting a degree in an area that would support him in his adult life.

 

[georgina]

I agree a lot of debt is not desirable. (OP didn't mention costs.) My perspective is as someone who went for a high-salary degree and HATED my job.

 

[monsterkitty]

I couldn't decide if I wanted to go into nursing or music. My mom and stepdad told me that if I went the music route they wouldn't pay for college. That sealed the deal for me, and I applied and auditioned for several colleges as a major in music. My stepdad was a professor at a private university, where I could have gone tuition free. However, that university didn't have a strong music school, so I didn't even audition.

I was in the doghouse big time at home.

I was accepted and offered money at each school in which I had auditioned. I choose a state university that has one of the best music schools in the country because I was also offered money for swimming. That helped ease the blow at home, haha. I did ditch swimming after the second practice, not because it was hard, but because I couldn't even get in the pool due to extreme burnout at that point.

As someone upthread stated, it's very difficult to get a double major or even a major and minor in a fine arts program because they requirements are extreme. For example, we would have rehearsal for orchestra 6 hours per week and band 4 hours per week, but each only received one credit hour. I did discover that I could add a performance major to my music ed degree and it would be only 6 credit hours more. I jumped on that as soon as my mom flipped her lid when I mentioned it.

I spent 5 year listening to my mom and stepdad tell me that there would be no future in my degree. It was a waste of money. No one would hire someone with a music ed and flute performance degree.

They were wrong. I retired after 32 years of teaching middle school instrumental music. I loved every second working with my students.

Let your son discover if this degree is a passion he wants to pursue. If he pursues the degree but doesn't work in the field, remember there are more than a few people who have degrees in one field but never worked in that field.

 

[1GoldenSun]

I don't know the first thing about photography and possible career options, but there must be some kind of field that would mesh his interest in photography with something more marketable. Has he spoken with a career counselor? Has he looked at the O*NET website? The O*NET Interest Profiler can be particularly useful and O*NET tells you the outlook regarding future jobs in each area.

Sometimes you have to stretch your passions to reach to something at which you can actually make a living. I loved social psychology, but the market for social psychologists is very well-saturated, so I chose to study industrial-organizational psychology instead, which is (or was, there are a lot of us now!) a growing field. I'm still able to use my interest in psychology, just with a different (and admittedly slightly less interesting) application.

I think it's important to find work you enjoy, but it's also important to be able to find work.

 

[Disneefun]

I would suggest finding a way to combine it with something marketable, like graphic design/website design/desktop publishing. For example, I'm an author and my cover designer uses stock photos and then alters them into my covers. She overlays them with text, changes the images, crops, bleeds, and what all. But she uses stock photos because she doesn't have the skill to do her own. I did the same for my website. I would think that if you could market yourself as being able to do both, you'd be very employable. Marketing firms need people who can produce both photos of the products and the brochures, etc. to go with them. Website designers need people who can not only design the page, but get the photos and alter them to suit the page. Magazines and journals need both photos and page layout skills. There is lots of work to be had in graphic design, etc. and being able to offer photography would increase your employability. No, it's not "fine art," but it can pay the bills while you do fine art on the side.

 

[JLTraveling]

I wanted to major in theater, but I was also interested in clinical psychology (my mom's field). She was working on her doctorate and doing all kinds of cool things, and we ended up making a plan to go into private practice together, with a focus on play therapy. While I was working on my master's, she got sick. She soon had to leave school, then retire on disability, and she passed away within a couple of years.

I left grad school when she got sick. I didn't really want to go on with it without my mom. I floundered for a few years, and finally ended up in content marketing. I don't love it, but I don't hate it, and I like the flexibility it provides. All that to say that the career I ended up with has zero to do with the degree I earned, and zero to do with the degree I thought I wanted. In the end, the important part is having A degree. Any degree.

 

[cedricandsophie]

Aren’t there community colleges close to you that have photography classes and/or other required classes lIke english or math, some of which could be transferred to a 4 year school. Maybe he needs to see what it means to take classes like this. If he’s successful and loves it, then moving to A 4 year school would be great for him. On the other hand, are there trade schools that focus on an area he loves? Not everyone is destined to go to college or should go to college. I think young people need time to find themselves and what they are passionate about. But I know from experience they can be clueless about what actual work looks like. Maybe he could intern, probably for free, at a local photography studio, newspaper, advertising agency, etc. to give him a real feel for what it’s lIke to do real work…rolling around on the floor to get the right shot of the bride, getting up at 3 am to shoot a local fire, working Through the night to finish up a project for delivery to a client, etc. Or maybe work at summer camps and offer to be the camp photographer.

 

[kerry1379]

I did photography as a side thing for a time. I didn't have a degree. What I did have, like Pea-N-Me in her post above, was a strong desire to learn. I read so many books, watched so many videos, and attended many conferences taught by photographers I admired or that specialized in a technique I liked. I also had a phenomenal mentor that taught me so much and helped to get me some experience with things like a wedding (without the pressure of being the primary photographer). My thing was family photography (family portraits, senior pictures, babies, etc.) with a few weddings thrown in. Of the two, weddings are definitely the more lucrative but it is also so much more stressful (you CAN'T miss certain shots or you are in trouble). But both were hard because you are always looking for more clients. For me, it wasn't even close to a consistent income. People also have a tendency of late to try and not pay you very well. "But I can get my friend to take my pictures with his phone for $20. Why should I pay you more?" Or worse yet, the dreaded comment, "I was hoping you could do it for free. You will get so much EXPOSURE it will be worth your time." (Ugh!)

But I honestly know little to nothing about places that may offer more consistent employment-like journalism and such. I was under the impression that many places still don't hire you "full time" but rather contract out individual assignments? Check me on that as I may be wrong! But that would be something I would want to look into to see what options are out there for consistent, decently paying work.

 

[MrsPete]

because someone with an iPhone and good photo editing software can not only taking amazing pictures, but fix mistakes with the software.

Something I've seen with school pictures over a 30-year career: Decades ago EVERYONE bought school pictures, prom pictures, sports pictures -- because not everyone had a camera, and people recognized that an experienced photographer took better pictures than Grandpa with his 110 Instamatic camera.
Today senior pictures are still selling, but sales for everything else are down -- have been going down for years, and it seems to be because everyone is taking phone pictures. The result is that pretty much none of these pictures are ever printed /framed, and the quality is not appreciated. We don't even bring in a professional photographer for prom, homecoming, etc. -- so few kids buy /no photographer will do it.

I think he would be much better off at this point if he had got his degree in music.

Of course I don't know the kid in question, but he'd probably be better off if he'd gone into a trade. Music is a saturated profession, and it takes more than desire, passion and talent.
So many of our high school students want to major in music and come back to teach band -- but in the 21 years I've been in my current high school, we've only employed 2 band directors.

Those are all my fears. But my other fear is him floundering and not doing anything because nothing interests him.

None of us are interested in just one thing. He needs to find something that interests him, AND fits his skill set, AND is in demand in the work force.

Last thought: For the kid who's interested in photography, I'd suggest that he look for a job (or even an unpaid internship) with a wedding photographer (or some other photography professional). The guy who photographed my daughter's wedding brought an assistant who managed his equipment /did his running. This would give your son an idea of how the business works -- would let him see what it's like to arrange people for group images, etc. -- solid information can never hurt when making a decision.

 

[longboard55]

Digital art is a great major with tons of jobs, for the artistic types.

 

[MrsPete]

Digital art is a great major with tons of jobs, for the artistic types.

I've heard graphic design described as "The meeting place between 'I want to be an artist' and 'I want to live indoors, eat regularly and have health insurance'."

 

[kdonnel]

Of course I don't know the kid in question, but he'd probably be better off if he'd gone into a trade. Music is a saturated profession, and it takes more than desire, passion and talent.

I am of the belief that had he accomplished something, finished college with a music degree, his listless life might be radically different even if not focused around music.

You get so much more from a college degree and the time at college than a potential job path. So much more.

 

[NannyBeBe]

My mother chose my career for me, telling me that the career I wanted was not for women and I wasn't smart enough, both of which were untrue. Now I am 75 years old and still regret not pursuing my passion. Let your son do what he loves.

 

[VandVsmama]

Total waste of money unless he wants to fund college himself, in my opinion. Make him major in something else and let him minor in photography. There’s a reason why the term “starving artist” has been around for so long. Paying for a kid to go to art school is like paying $200,000 for your kid to eventually work at Starbucks.

It’s a good side hussle…photography, that is, but hard to make it as a full time gig.

 

[mom2rtk]

I think this is a pretty individual calculation, with a family's finances and attitude toward income and money in general playing a big role.

Obviously kids should make their own choices, but parents have a role in guiding them through the issues they should be taking into account. I would not encourage my child to get a photography degree (despite my own hobbyist's enthusiasm for photography) if it meant they had to take out loans to do so. But if you have the money to put them through school and the money to support them if they don't find that elusive job in the field after graduation, then by all means go for it.

 

[tcufrog]

I grew up in a very financially unstable household, something which my kids have never experienced. I have told my kids many times that money doesn't buy happiness but that it does buy freedom from stress. We've very aggressively saved for college because we know our kids won't qualify for financial aid. We expect them to get jobs for spending money but we hopefully will be able to fund their undergrad education.

DS15 is starting to think about college. We've told him that we don't mind him majoring in whatever he wishes, as long as he has one major that has a clear career path. If that means he double majors or has a major and minor to accomplish that, we will support that. Both my DH and I did that. My DH had two majors and a minor so it took him 4 1/2 years plus summer school to graduate so we won't be upset if he takes longer than 4 years. He's taking several AP classes so hopefully, he'll go to college as at least a second-semester freshman as I did. That will hopefully relieve some of the pressure to take a huge course load each semester. He struggles with anxiety so I want him to not feel overwhelmed.

I've also introduced DS15 to the idea that sometimes your job pays for you to pursue your passion. One of the happiest people I've known worked full time in HR and acted in the local theater during nights and weekends. The art teacher he had in elementary school did art photography in her spare time and had several gallery shows. His aunt writes fan fiction in her spare time that's so good that several TV shows such as X-Files have offered her contracts to write books for them. She turned them down because she'd lose control of the creative process and she knew that under those constraints and deadlines that she wouldn't be enjoyable anymore. I want him to understand that it doesn't have to be all or nothing.

 

[FigmentSpark]

We have money set aside. We can pay for 1 4-year degree. But I don't want to waste it, for sure.

 

[E&Cmom]

I am in Canada and not sure how the art school works at the schools your son is looking at but at my daughter’s University they can apply to do a CO OP program in third and fourth year to gain paid work experience . She is only finishing up first year but I am strongly encouraging her to do so then as long as she keeps her GPA up. She wants to illustration/ digital art. In our area there is work for digital artists/ concept artists and hope this is the case when she graduates.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Just for kicks I looked up the school that likely would’ve been a choice had either of my kids wanted to pursue this type of degree. It actually seems like a really interesting program! And it’s in a really great location for the arts. For us it would’ve been relatively affordable, as well. (Not sure where you live, OP.)

I think it would be a worthwhile degree if he’s passionate about it.

MassArt Photography

 

[FigmentSpark]

the School he’s looking at is Ryerson University in Toronto. It’s a BFA in Image Arts, I believe.

They offer a minor in other areas, as well, so maybe I could convince him to do a marketing minor. I think he might like that type of work. Again, though, are Jobs in that area plentiful?