Abilene Christian University is excited to announce a Bachelors of Fine Art in Photography. This degree will prepare students for a wide variety of career opportunities. The pervasive internet culture has created increasing demand for high-quality, image-driven content. ACU is focused on providing a faith-centered education that cultivates students who can meet current demands and lead with expertise, humility and character.
About The Program
The program has a maximum of 25 students with 5 to 7 students in each cohort. When students reach upper-level coursework, cohorts will work together in what is called ‘vertical studios’. This fosters deep connections between cohorts that result in collaborative learning and rich networking opportunities when entering the job market.
The program culminates in the production of a professional portfolio highlighting the unique skills, interests and passion of each individual student. This begins as early as the sophomore level where professional online portfolios are initiated as part of the coursework. All of this lays the groundwork for internship applications. In addition, our students compete in regional and national competitions allowing their work to be seen by professionals throughout the US.
The program is led by Nil Santana who is a passionate teacher, talented fine-art photographer and gifted artist. Nil has been teaching for more than ten years and is beloved by his students.
- View Course Descriptions
- View Student Work
- Notable Alumni
- Full Degree Plan: Art & Design Requirement, General University Requirement
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Career Opportunities
The kinds of career opportunities available for graduates will vary depending on their unique passions and individual interests. Class projects have enough flexibility and class sizes are small enough to allow for a variety of visual and conceptual directions. Choices are always made in collaboration with professors. Students final portfolios will be a coherent body of work that express a desired career path. Typical career directions are as follows:
- Portrait Photography (studio, outdoor, wedding and events, etc.)
- Corporate/Institutional Photography (universities, non-prophets, architectural firms, large corporations, etc.)
- Advertising and Editorial (fashion, magazine, product, e-commerce, etc.)
- Fine Art Photography
Portfolio Submission
Acceptance into the Photography program is based in part on the submission of an online portfolio of images. This can be as simple as a Flickr set, blog or shared Dropbox folder. We would like to see 18-22 of your best images in a large and clear format. These images can be of any subject matter, but we will pay close attention to compositional skill, technical skill and personal interest. A web link will be requested where these images can be viewed. Click here for more instruction on creating an online portfolio.
Please note: acceptance into the photography program does not guarantee acceptance into ACU. The standard ACU application process must be completed.