Photo-Cinema
This major works in the creative space between the still photograph and the motion picture. You’ll study photography, the moving image and the visual arts in depth, and enjoy opportunities for hands-on, collaborative experience with emerging media and industry-standard technology.
Learn by doing—then do even more
Based in the art department, photo-cinema students enjoy an interdisciplinary approach to the creative process, working collaboratively with faculty and staff from theatre, communications and other departments. You’ll learn to be a versatile image maker, conversant in a variety of screen and print media while developing your own curricular emphasis and investigative method.
Amazing opportunities, on campus and beyond
Practical experience is built into the photo-cinema curriculum. Recent students have supervised programming for the Illinois Film Office and filmed documentary footage for the Chicago Park District. Actively engaged with the university's student research assistant scholarship program, photo-cinema majors have been awarded grants to complete creative projects in the national parks, publish their first book or work on location with indy film productions.
Professor Javier Carmona
Photo-Cinema Discipline Director
“My goal is to prepare students to be intellectually self-sufficient once they graduate. I expect them not only to leave with an array of mechanical skills, but also with a critical perception allowing them to trust their own creativity.”
Amazing Resources and Opportunities
Our campus is an art student’s natural habitat. You’ll take classes in our Digital Darkroom, which features large-screen iMacs, Epson archival printers, flatbed and film scanners, and studio space where you’ll critique and discuss your work alongside your fellow students. You'll also enjoy ready access to a 12-station traditional darkroom and spacious printmaking and drawing studios, and much more. The O’Connor Art Gallery exhibits the work of contemporary artists of national renown.
Dominican provides special funding on a competitive basis to students seeking to develop an original creative project with faculty guidance. You’ll even get a chance to present your finished production at an amazing campus exposition in April. It’s all part of URSCI—the Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Investigations Program—a distinctly Dominican initiative. URSCI also funds student travel to academic and industry conferences across the United States.
Students who plan to teach art to kindergarten, grade school or high school students can combine their art major with the Secondary and K-12 Education program. Offered by the School of Education, the program includes a full semester of clinical practice, split between an elementary school and a middle or secondary school.
Prepare for the work world of today—and tomorrow
It’s a new media world out there. Independent content creators are growing audiences in the thousands at little cost. “Old media” production companies are responding with innovative creative strategies. Our curriculum is designed to prepare you for this emerging art and media landscape— and for lifelong intellectual and professional competence. In the workplace, our graduates know what they’re doing. Additionally, many of our recent alums have gone on to study at the most competitive MFA programs in the country, including, California Institute of the Arts, Rochester Institute of Technology and Cranbrook Academy of Art. They have earned their way into leadership positions in a range of established and emerging professions.
Carlie Merola
Photo-Cinema major
"Dominican's photo cinema program has provided me with exceptional training in all aspects of the field, like lighting and sound, building a story, and camera operation. I've become confident in my unique lens on our world since the smaller class sizes allow a lot of creative freedom for projects."