Photography

Student scanning film strips.

At RISD we approach photography as an ever-changing set of technical, conceptual and aesthetic conditions that exist within a broad social and cultural context. Here you make, present and interpret photographic images, learning how to use cultural signifiers, symbols and metaphors in the content and structure of image making.

Degree programs

a black-and-white photo by RISD alum John Shen of hands focusing a camera lens
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)

In the Photography BFA you develop advanced techniques, historical and contemporary processes and knowledge of contemporary issues to produce powerful, self-directed photographic projects within the realms of art, studio, editorial, documentary, journalism, and photobook publishing.

a monochrome photo by RISD alum Kate Sarrantonio, featuring only the torsos of two people wearing button-down shirts
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Through coursework, research seminars and independent studio work, the MFA in Photography invites you to explore the medium as a basis for self-expression across a range of professional contexts.

In the studio

After learning the fundamentals of film processing and darkroom printing, students move on to experiment with digital capture, high-end printing at medium and large scales, video, installation work and other approaches of their choice.

Darkroom enlarger.
Student presenting a candid portrait.
Photo equipment on shelves and in containers.

Student work

Student work by Jay Simple MFA 2018. Man sitting in a chair with the cutout of a painted face masked over his head.
Student work by Ashley Hagerstrand BFA 2018. Satirical photos of art from the Middle Ages.
Student work by Matthew Barbarino BFA 2018. Black and white photograph of a girl sitting in a bedroom, surrounded by trinkets and art.
Student work by Tianqiutao Chen MFA 2017. Photograph of surreal buildings.
Student work by Nicole Schwartz MFA 2017. Photograph of a man and a woman inside a car.
Student work by Alex Gencarelli MFA 2017. Closeup photograph of a woman behind a foggy window.
Student work by Maria Bedoya BFA 2017. Closeup black and white image of a young girl with closed eyes.
Student work by Nathan Miller MFA 2017. Photograph of a well-dressed woman talking on the phone while sitting in a chair in a sun-lit room.
Student work by John Shen BFA 2019. Photograph of the side of a redbrick building in a steamy alleyway.
Student work by Zai Rutter BFA 2018. Photograph of a barren and rocky hill. A caption reads "You are so beautiful," she whispered. "Handsome, I should have said you are so handsome."
Student work by Jessica Renzelman BFA 2017. Photograph of the side of a colorful building.
Student work by Chase Barnes MFA 2018. Photograph of a billboard displaying SMPTE color bars.

Alumni

Photography alumni pursue a wide range of options after graduation, with some going on to specialize in commercial or editorial photography and/or video, while others teach, run their own businesses, make and exhibit fine art photography or do a combination of commercial and fine art work. Most become lifelong image-makers adept at expressing a unique way of seeing the world.

a still from a film by RISD Photography alum Natalia Almada
Natalia Almada MFA 01 — documentary filmmaker

A 2012 recipient of a MacArthur “genius award,” documentarian Natalia Almada was the first Latina filmmaker to be so honored since the program’s founding in 1981. Almada found RISD’s graduate program in Photography to be “very conceptually rigorous, very experimental,” in ways that helped lead her to making documentaries marked by a quiet, muscular empathy trained on social and political realities.

a photo portrait of a crying child by RISD Photography alum Jill Greenberg
Jill Greenberg BFA 89 — commercial and fine art photographer

Whether photographing Hollywood celebrities or taking her own fine art photos—often of children or animals—Jill Greenberg focuses on the iconic. Her use of light and color exaggerates the figure while reducing it to its essence, allowing her to capture raw emotion, bringing her inimitable style to assignment work for clients such as GQ, HBO, Showtime, Universal Pictures and Wired, among many others.

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