It's been a long time coming.
Following 11 years of corporate work in the web production and digital marketing fields, I'm FINALLY going back to school to get my MFA in Photography! Having been accepted to all the schools I applied to, my choice was the ICP-Bard MFA in Advanced Photographic Studies program.
Sometimes life gives you many chances. It's just a matter of one being able to see and have the courage to take them. After experiencing 2 layoffs from work in less than 10 months, I decided to live my dream of pursuing a graduate degree - something I've (day)dreamed about since finishing college in 1999.
In some ways I still can't believe it's real, so I waited until after I submitted my tuition for the Fall semester to blog about it. I don't come from an academic family, so for me graduate school (especially in fine art) always felt like an indulgence. Yet among the selfish reasons for wanting this, I also want to create a legacy of pursuing higher education as an example for my son.
During the next 2 years in graduate school I will:
- Fine tune my studio practice as a photographer
- Explore other artistic mediums that may enhance the meaning and presentation of my photographic work (one of the reasons why I chose the ICP-Bard program)
- Develop my critical writing skills
- Read a lot
- Emit blood, sweat and tears (I've been warned but it's all in the name of growth)
- Look at other artists' work - visit more galleries, shows, archives, etc.
- Network like hell and forge friendships with my colleagues
- Get real world learning with internships and so much more...
So what happens with Dodge & Burn? For now I plan to keep posting. I still believe in the idea of taking the concept of Dodge & Burn and developing a photography history class curriculum. Over the past 4 years, this blog has fostered my continuing education in photography which helped me get into graduate school. For both these reasons and more, I must continue to blog.
As we all know, social media is an ever-changing communication channel so it's very possible that this blog might morph into something else: an online magazine, its own social network, a virtual gallery... who knows?
Regardless, I look forward to directly and indirectly sharing with you my graduate school experience along the way.
And as always, thanks for being a reader and fan.
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