A Student’s Point of View: I Wondered What Being a Senior is like

This is Ashley Crichton blogging from still dreary Rochester NY  🙂  I hope you have enjoyed reading my posts for RITphoto. My posts are created to share about what it’s like to be a photography student! My plans are to post one last time during this semester.

Recently I have been talking to a few of my friends who are seniors about their plans after they graduate. They also talked about some things that are happening around campus as they prepare to complete their degrees in photography within the month.

One thing I learned is everyone is extremely busy preparing their final assignments in their portfolio development class. This means preparing for the Senior Portfolio Walk through. Walk through is one of the final things seniors do at the very end. All the advertising seniors show their final books(portfolios), promos, and business cards. Faculty, all ad students, parents, or anyone else who is interested can come through and provide feedback on the work. Despite all the craziness, I was able to talk to a few seniors, here’s what they had to say.

One of the graduating seniors, Elkin Jaramillo, pictured above is a digital artist and photographer studying advertising photography. When he leaves RIT, his plan is to work in the Philadelphia area. He would love to find a full time position but expects to pick up freelance work in both Philadelphia and New York areas until he is settled. When he started his photo arts classes, he was photographing pretty much everything. Through trial and error and during his time in the School, he developed the style he has now. He said that one of the best parts about being at RIT is how many different styles of photography are being produced, displayed and talked about. Trying the many different styles has helped him figure out what he does and doesn’t like photographing. By not confining himself to what is traditionally done in the ad department, he has learned to just shoot what he feels like shooting while still satisfying his class requirements. Below are a few examples of his work.

To see more of his work you can check out his website, elkinjaramillo.com, or visit his Instagram at @elkinjar.

Another senior I was able to speak with is Lloyd McCullough. When he graduates, he plans to move to New York City and start out assisting photographers in the city. He talked a lot about how great the RITphoto alumni network is and how they help the recent grads (new photographers) get jobs when they are first starting out. There is a Facebook group in NYC created just from alums where other alums post job openings or other related opportunities. Lloyd plans to utilize this resource when he moves there. In his portfolio development class, a number of alumni have been Skyping into class and talking to the seniors about the different job possibilities in the industry and giving career advice. Lloyd said these Skype calls have really helped him figure out what he wants to pursue further. Here are some examples of his work:

To see more of his work you can check out his website, lloydmccullough.com, or visit his Instagram at @lloyd_mccullough.

I wish the seniors the best of luck after graduation, and can’t wait to see their impact on the industry!

Ashley Crichton is a rising junior at RITphoto where she specializes in advertising photography.