Photography is More Than Art

Sure, photographs are becoming more and more widely recognized as fine art, but Cathy Dutertre wanted a program that taught more than the art part of photography. A single mother of two ready to finally get into the career that had always been in her heart, Cathy was looking for a digital photography degree program that would set her up to start working as a professional photographer. A successful professional photographer.

While some aspiring photographers have the luxury of learning the technical side of the profession as they go along, Cathy didn't. Her son and daughter might have been grown enough she could fit classes into her schedule, but they were still teenagers whom she supported financially. Since she was giving up a successful career in the financial world for photography, Cathy wanted to do what she could to ensure she was able to support her family with her newly chosen profession.

"Most colleges offer only Fine Arts degrees in photography," Cathy says. "That's just fine for some people, but I wanted more of a commercial- and business-based program that also focused on technical aspects of photography. To make photography a business, you need to know the practical as well as theoretical."

During her six months researching different schools, Cathy only found one photography program that met her needs, the Associate of Science degree in Digital Photography at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Tampa. She enrolled…and graduated 18 months later in June 2005.

Cathy was making a living at photography even before she graduated. A year into the program, Cathy founded her own commercial photography company, Mark Anthony Photography. Named after her brother who died in 2000, Mark Anthony Photography had an impressive client list, and Cathy was well on her way to becoming known as the go-to photographer for Tampa-area corporations needing a commercial photographer by the time she graduated.

While Cathy could have continued to grow Mark Anthony on her own, immediately after she graduated another professional photographer (and an Academy instructor) approached her about forming a partnership between her corporate-commercial photography business and his corporate-advertising photography business. Cathy agreed. In the 18 months since its formation, the partnership has been even more successful than Cathy could have imagined.

"The technical knowledge I gained at the Academy was the perfect match for the strengths I already had: using natural lighting, knowing how to provide great customer service, communicating with people. I couldn't have launched a successful photography business and gotten to where I am today without the knowledge I gained while at the Academy."