Portfolio Help

[nathancotephoto]

Through my BA I had little direction from my instructors. Over the last few years Ive loved to experiment and I guess it seems it frustrated my professors because they weren't following me conceptually. So I am really left unsure of how to arrange my portfolio and whether or not it is MFA material according to a committee. Personally I am ready for the direction of more experienced professors as well as fellow grad students. So my question is if anyone would like to take a peek at my grad portfolio and offer some opinions. To be frank I am living in North Dakota and the art scene is not booming :wink: so all research and advise has had to be on the web. How many schools should i apply to? I am not impressed with 80% of grad schools that i have looked through. I am applying to sva, pratt, parsons, rutgers, possibly columbia and RISD. I would love to see other portfolios that were accepted as well. I love seeing work feel free to email me as well at nathancotephotography@hotmail.com

Thank you!

Portfolio:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathancote ... 677197305/

[Emma2003]

Hey, I'm a painter, so I'm not super familliar with your medium. I think you maybe coming in a little late for deadlines at this point, so I would advise you to spend the next year shooting like crazy. Take a look at Jeff Wall, if you haven't already, and any other photographers you cn come across, Witkin comes to mind, there is a little theater in what you're doing, also, a time artist you might be interested in is Willie Doherty. He is Irish and his stuff tends to deal with duality and perception and memory. I think there are some nice photographs there, but what is most important is the cohesion of the body of work. It seems to me at this point you have two distinct bodies here, the first about memory, and the second kind of staged portrature with a slightly bizarre narrative. Definitely look at Jeff Wall. Anyway, I don't see why you couldn't get into grad school, but then I truly don't understand the minds of the committees. Good luck!

[Emma2003]

I just reread your email, and i think I misunderstood it. I thought you had not started applying and were looking for options! I'm so sorry. I definitely think you have ability. All the places you have listed are really top notch, but also very competitive. I have heard a lot of advice and most of it has to do with being in a city with a major art scene. NY, LA, to a lesser extent, Chicago. It seems like you are mainly thinking east coast? The School of the Art Institute is a very good school as well. I am a painter, so my schools aren't necessarily the same. According to US News and World Report rankings list for graduate photography programs, Yale is number one, then SAIC, RISD, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of New Mexico, California Institute of the Arts, San Francisco Art Institute, SVA, UCLA, Arizona State, California College for the arts, and Cranbook. in other words the usual suspects...Good luck on your applications!