Photography + Integrated Media — Master of Fine Arts

Curriculum

The Photography + Integrated Media Area offers an innovative M.F.A. curriculum that defines photographic practice in its most inclusive and experimental manifestations.

The strength of the Photography + Integrated Media program lies in its leadership in innovative teaching, latest technology, and providing modern and spacious facilities. The curriculum encourages experimentation with a wide variety of processes and platforms ranging from black and white photography, to digital imaging and video, to interdisciplinary practice. Through strong technical and conceptual training, the program stresses the development of the photographer as an artist and the use of lens-based technologies as vital tools of creative expression, preparing students for rewarding careers in the field.

Explore topics like:

• Persona, performance and image
• Documentary, ethnicity & identity
• Interactive installation, technology, coding
• Alternative processes such as video, 3-D printing, laser cutting, vinyl cutting
• Aesthetics, place & space, ecologies
• Politics, social practice, entrepreneurship
• Pedagogy and professional practices in Photography & Integrated Media

Current and past seminars include:

What We Talk About When We Talk About Photography

Exploring Walter Benjamin, Susan Sontag, and Roland Barthes extensive writings about the nature of photography and the medium’s organic relationship to the subjects of memory, melancholy, fantasy, history, and loss.

Feminisms: The Personal is Political

Explore the key issues and methodologies of feminist art practice. Discuss the continuity of feminist concerns and strategies through an examination of the history and contemporary manifestations of feminist art.

Revolution, Silence, and Blindness

Starting with a consideration of the biological, ontological and mechanical evolution of seeing and photography, we’ll explore themes such as absence, silence, darkness, and blindness — a kind of antithesis of visual impression.

Facilities

• Over 11,000 square feet of space
• 4 large communal B&W darkrooms
• Multiple private darkrooms
• Over 50 enlargers, including 27 new Beseler 23 Cs
• Large lighting studio supporting analog and digital practice
• Photo equipment cage with professional cameras, lighting, and equipment darkroom
• Digital imaging facility with Apple iMac computers and large scale Epson color printers
• Hasselblad film and Epson flatbed scanners
• Photography graduate student office
• CREATE SPACE digital lab

Alternatives Biennial

Alternatives is a biennial juried exhibition organized by the graduate students of Ohio University’s MFA Photography and Integrated Media program in the School of Art + Design. Since its beginning in 1980, Alternatives has achieved national recognition for its leadership in forging new definitions in the medium by emphasizing the work of photographers in the conceptual forefront of the practice. The exhibition has hosted a distinguished roster of artist jurors including Carrie Mae Weems, Kelli Connell, Jason Reed, and Judy Natal. In 2019 the Alternatives exhibition 2, 3, 4: Dimensional Photographies, was juried by Brittany Nelson. See more on our program Instagram account.

Career Opportunities

Our students regularly go on to receive Fulbright Awards, national artist-in-residencies, gallery representation, university teaching positions and other types of professional positions in the field as post-graduates.

Areas of Focus

• Professional gallery representation; professional studio
• University teaching positions
• Artist-in-residencies
• Fullbright awardees
• Arts administration/museum and/or non-profit positions
• Creative director, merchandiser, commercial photography/ video/ film, web designer
• Gallery manager, owner, curator
• Art writer, librarian or consultant
• Studio assistant

Apply

For application into the M.F.A. in Photography + Integrated Media, both a Graduate College (online application) as well as School of Art + Design, Photography + Integrated Media Area application must be received. Please adhere to the following checklist in preparing both of these areas of application. Applications must be postmarked by February 1.

1. Online Application — within this application, you'll be required to submit the following:

   • Application Fee — $50 for US Citizens, $55 for International (credit card or electronic check only)

   • Official set of transcripts sent to:
     Graduate College
     Research & Tech Building
     Room 220
     Athens, OH 45701

   • Statement of Intent: This is typically 1-2 pages. Why are you applying for graduate school? Why OHIO? What are your future goals? Is there any information about your past experience/skills that is not reflected on your resume?

   • Artist Statement: This is typically one page. Tell us about your current research interests, influences, and artwork.

   • Resume/CV

   • Three Letters of Reference: Submit the contact information for three references. Our system will automatically send these people a request via email for their submission. Their responses should be submitted by the February 1st deadline.

2. School of Art + Design, Photography + Integrated Media Area application

   • Submit 20 images or other documentation of recent, original artwork.

   • All uploads must conform to Slideroom’s parameters. Review these before preparing your files.

   • Along with each artwork, add descriptive text where indicated.

   • Detail slides are acceptable where necessary.

   • A $10 fee is required for Slideroom’s service.

   • This part of the application must also be completed by February 1st.

Note: Except for the official transcripts, NO materials should be sent through standard mail.

Connect With Us

All faculty in the Photography + Integrated Media area are working artists who exhibit actively and serve as visiting artists and lecturers at colleges and galleries across the country. Ohio University and the Photography + Integrated Media Department are committed to the creation of a diverse community of artist scholars. If you’d like more information about our program, please reach out to Cassidy Brauner.