Accepted to Pratt for photo, deferred for 1 year - More interested in CCA for next year (questions about CCA and portfolio) >>

[Jonathan K.]

I applied for Fall 2010 via Photography to: Pratt, NYU-Steinhardt, Columbia, CUNY-Hunter, & SVA.

I only got into Pratt, which I was leaning towards anyways.

I deferred for 1 year as I only finished undergrad in June (BFA in Photography from The Art Institute of Charleston).

I wanted to take a break and travel abroad this spring.

Nonetheless, I'm really heavily yearning to move to SF. I'm originally from Virginia but have been familiar with and visited the bay area 10+ times.

I've spent a little less time in NYC/BK but have definitely been up there a decent amount as well.

Some things have just changed and I'm extremely interested in re-applying this year to both CCA and SFAI (as a backup).

I didn't spend as much time as I should have with my portfolio or artist statement last year. My preferred works are still very similar at this point.

I'm interested in everything CCA MFA related. The size of the program, the rate of acceptance, the amount of photographers, the amount of film vs digital, are the separate departments for each medium.

Also, I'm very interested on their portfolio preferences.. Last year I sent a split portfolio of 2 different series.

This year I'm considering the possibility of 3 series. Or possibly 2 series plus a few singles, with similar moods just not completely related content.

How familiar is anyone with CCA MFA (preferably photo) admissions and portfolio's?

Thank in advance,

Jonathan

http://jonathankatzenberg.com

Edited September 19, 2010 by jkay

[zaquon]

I did not like the 2 people I talked to from CCA at the portfolio day. They didn't seem as smart and engaged as the other schools I talked to.

They seem biased toward people who use film and use it well. They seemed to like that I have experience with film, but they did not like at all that I use digital in my work and didn't really want to hear that it was a choice.

The general piece of advise I hear about portfolios is keep it to one series. Keep it tightly focused. Many school require the one page statement, you can't say as much about each series if you have more than one. I made that mistake last year.

But, CCA seemed to want to see range, and also to relate yourself to other photographers. You could probably write a statement where all you do is name drop and they'll be happy as clam at high tide. But, I have no idea if the people I talked to are on the Ad Com, so I'd take that with a grain of salt.