Parents won't let me study Photography at uni
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People keep thinking along the lines of if you want a generic graduate or otherwise job and there's you with your photography degree and someone else with their economics degree, they will choose the latter. Depending on the job, both degrees could be as useless as eachother. So you might as well study the one you enjoy. I still ask "wtf IS sports science?!", for the life of me I don't see why so many people I know want to do it but if they want to go into that field, why not.
What if OP was applying for a job as a photographer, which, y'know, seems to be what they he wants to do. There's him with his photography degree, and there's someone else who was a in photography club. Obviously experience is very important too but in a world where a lot of people are doing photography degrees, not having one could be harmful.
What if OP was applying for a job as a photographer, which, y'know, seems to be what they he wants to do. There's him with his photography degree, and there's someone else who was a in photography club. Obviously experience is very important too but in a world where a lot of people are doing photography degrees, not having one could be harmful.
cardine92
People keep thinking along the lines of if you want a generic graduate or otherwise job and there's you with your photography degree and someone else with their economics degree, they will choose the latter. Depending on the job, both degrees could be as useless as eachother. So you might as well study the one you enjoy. I still ask "wtf IS sports science?!", for the life of me I don't see why so many people I know want to do it but if they want to go into that field, why not.
What if OP was applying for a job as a photographer, which, y'know, seems to be what they he wants to do. There's him with his photography degree, and there's someone else who was a in photography club. Obviously experience is very important too but in a world where a lot of people are doing photography degrees, not having one could be harmful.
What if OP was applying for a job as a photographer, which, y'know, seems to be what they he wants to do. There's him with his photography degree, and there's someone else who was a in photography club. Obviously experience is very important too but in a world where a lot of people are doing photography degrees, not having one could be harmful.
Everyone on TSR assumes that everyone wants some lame office job after university.
Dreizhen
Thank God for your parents
Exactly. Don't do a mickey mouse degree.
You'd probably be able to do more in photography with a proper art degree from a proper uni, than a photography one.
What job will a photography degree get you though? If you really truly want to do photography as a career then you'd be better off going out and doing photography, rather than studying it for three years first. What are they honestly going to teach you? If you want a job that requires a degree, and one in photography will do, then by all means take a photography degree. However a career in 'art' does not require a degree in the slightest, and could well just be wasting years when you could be actually doing something.
Note: This advice comes from my step-dad, a professional photographer, given to a sibling.
Note: This advice comes from my step-dad, a professional photographer, given to a sibling.
bete noire
Arts based universities put a heavy emphasis on not being passive with your degree choice. If you go to the right university and meet the right people you can get a lot of industry contacts and a lot of work within the industry whilst also having the benefit of having well trained lecturers and former professionals teaching you the ins, outs and technical sides of photography.
If someone wants to study photography at university, chances are they don't just want to do it recreationally, and even bigger chances are that they'd ******* hate a job in economics regardless.
If someone wants to study photography at university, chances are they don't just want to do it recreationally, and even bigger chances are that they'd ******* hate a job in economics regardless.
That's a sensible point. However, I wasn't necessarily suggesting that the O.P. work 'in' Economics; simply that it's a rigorous, traditional subject of the sort that would hold anyone in good stead for general employment.
Also, on a completely unrelated note, I think you might like this:
Aren't you better off spending the £30k it will cost to go to uni on cameras, photography equipment and trips around the world for some really interesting photography experiences? You could even start your own business with that sort of money...
I have a similar dilemma to you, I love textiles but I also enjoy Physics. I'm starting a Physics degree this year because it will open so many doors for me, but I can still do my creative stuff as a hobby. (My parents aren't paying for anything for my uni but I should be able to manage on student loans etc) Good Luck!! xxxx
I have a similar dilemma to you, I love textiles but I also enjoy Physics. I'm starting a Physics degree this year because it will open so many doors for me, but I can still do my creative stuff as a hobby. (My parents aren't paying for anything for my uni but I should be able to manage on student loans etc) Good Luck!! xxxx
My first opinion would be don't study photography. Its not comparable to economics or other traditional degrees. Even if its quite technical and academic, employers would not give you credit for it because to them, it sounds like a doss subject and they haven't got the time or the inclination to educate themselves on all the degrees people can now take.
But as an experiment, do a degree in photography and let TSR know how you got on and if you got a job in the field.
But as an experiment, do a degree in photography and let TSR know how you got on and if you got a job in the field.
StarryEyed91
Haha my dad actively encouraged me to take maths, chem and biology in order to do medicine. 2 weeks into beginning maths and chem AS I dropped them both 
My family now grumble about the degree I'm intending to do, saying its not going to get me a job etc, but none of them even went to uni themselves
My family now grumble about the degree I'm intending to do, saying its not going to get me a job etc, but none of them even went to uni themselves
Haha, same! Yay for random degrees that no-one wants you to do! Ancient History was not my father's cup of tea XD
In ten years if you will be laughing if you give into your parents. If you "do what you love" you will be struggling for call centre work. Also there is nothing stopping you from actively pursuing your photography HOBBY.
More people graduate with a degree in photography each year than there are jobs for photographers in the whole of Europe.
Photography is a hobby, not a university degree. FIN.
Photography is a hobby, not a university degree. FIN.
I read it as pornography at first. Such a let down 
buyingtheticket
In ten years if you will be laughing if you give into your parents. If you "do what you love" you will be struggling for call centre work. Also there is nothing stopping you from actively pursuing your photography HOBBY.
That's the case with most academic degrees though. If it was a choice between photography and say, engineering or law then I would probably say don't do photography. Less vocational subjects such as maths and chemistry do have applications and are in demand but if it was a toss up between photography and history, classics, english etc, the likelihood either way is that you will end up working as a drone in an office at best.
Most jobs ask for a degree or don't ask for one at all, so if you're going to go to university and pay through the nose for it, it might as well be for something you enjoy.
I understand that you want to do something you love, but try and consider their point of view. They are probably thinking of employment post-degree and what kind of work you could get, and how 'secure' it will be. Do you have any other, genuine academic interests? Could you cope with having photography as a hobby (you can always join classes/join societies etc.), or maybe there are joint degrees? I'm not saying to give up your dream, if this is what it is, but considering a wider range of options may help you not regret things later, even if you DO end up choosing photography. I wish I'd been more open-minded!
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