Montana State University School of Film & Photography

The School of Film & Photography at Montana State University offers a vibrant and rigorous Photography Option within the Film & Photography major that emphasizes both craft and creative vision. For over six decades, this program has helped students develop strong individual voices, diving deeply into technical, aesthetic, historical, and conceptual aspects of photography under close faculty mentorship.

From their very first year, students engage in hands-on experience: using film and photo production courses, darkroom work (including traditional silver-based processes), alternative photography, and digital practices. As they progress, the curriculum introduces courses in color photography, studio lighting, large-format and view cameras, and advanced printing tools.

The facilities for photography at Montana State are among the best in the Rocky Mountain region. Students have access to double cyclorama studio walls, Profoto lighting systems, finishing labs, multiple darkrooms (both gang black-and-white and individual color), labs for alternative processes, bookmaking, digital editing suites, and large-format printers. Such infrastructure supports explorations in both fine art and commercial photographic work.

In the senior year, students are called to bring together what they’ve learned into a capstone project — a senior production portfolio that is publicly exhibited and shared within the SFP community. Along the way, critiques, lectures, workshops and mentoring foster critical thinking and refine each student’s visual language.

Graduates go on to occupy various niches in the field — whether in fine arts, commercial photography, portraiture, photojournalism, or editorial work. Their training prepares them not just with technical abilities, but with aesthetic sensitivity, adaptability, and a strong professional identity. Montanans and non-Montanans alike have widely appreciated the program’s balance of tradition and innovation.