Formal Photography Education: Is it Necessary?

By Ken Parks, December 11, 2012

It takes a lot to be a professional photographer. And some people have asked, “Is a formal education in photography necessary?”

One photographer had taken up the study of piano as a young man and had given lessons to make some money. He practiced photography for years, never took any formal education. And yet, he managed to create the best set of photographs the world has come to known. We know him as Ansel Adams.

Even a famous wedding photographer such as Sal Cincotta has no formal education in photography. He was a business major and started his wedding photography business.

The path of acquiring a formal education and degree in photography may be suited for some. While the less educated have endured the long haul, experimented, made mistakes, and became self educated.

The formal education may expedite the learning curve and allow someone to succeed early in their career. The advantages of an early career formal education allows one to have the theory and expand that to experience. The non-formal educated photographer applies his/her experience and self study to travel another path, with more bumps in the road.

I have no formal education in photography. When it came to two roads diverged in a wood, I took the one less traveled and that has made all the difference. My photography today is the result of more than 30 years of experience and... practice, practice, and practice. Nothing can replace the education and experience I have endured over the years. But the results have earned me the right to say that my photographs have been award winning. One of my best pieces is “Weathered Truck.” It was something I saw, a vision you might say, and it involved capturing the essence of what is old and showing how the weather in our lives has caused us to be placed out in the pasture, forgotten by the next generation and left to deteriorate. Yes, it appears to be sad. But that is the reality.

My years with my Dad were mostly the technical aspect of photography and not so much the artistic element. Composition, lighting, and theme is what I learned after his departure from this world. The latest education has been from the innovative DVDs of some widely acclaimed professional photographer such as National Geographic's Joel Sartore, commercial photographer Bryan Peterson, and wedding photographer, David Ziser, to name a few.

Digital Photography has dramatically changed the creative aspects of photography. Software companies such as Adobe and NIK have added to the innovation to digital photography. As an old fogey, I came from the days of film photography and have yet to abandon it. I have a shoot coming up whereby the old Bronica and Hasselblad will be put to test. Digital photography has expedited my experiences and the latest technical advanced, leading to a faster education of my craft and the love of photographic creativity.

Would I have been better to go to college and acquire a formal education? I can only speculate. Education may have served well in getting photography jobs for an advertisement company or more independent contracts. But it would come to the same road, eventually running my own photography business.

Ken "Max" Parks is a professional wedding photographer at Weddings Thru The Lens.